Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the profile of the electors who were not data matched on (a) national government data bases and (b) local government data bases for purposes of individual electoral registration.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its report on the dry run of the confirmation process, through which electors will be matched against the Department for Work and Pensions database, provides a full analysis of the socio-demographic factors associated with low match rates. The report can be found at:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/163144/Confirmation-Dry-run-2013-Results-report.pdf
	The commission also informs me that it was not possible to conduct a similar analysis on the results of local data matching as not all local authorities reported on their activities.

Electoral Register: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the merits of auto enrolment of young people at the time they are given their national insurance number.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it will carefully consider with the Cabinet Office any proposals such as this for improving the efficiency of electoral registration processes as it monitors the implementation of individual electoral registration during 2014 and 2015. If such proposals appear to be viable, the commission will recommend that the Government brings forward any necessary measures to allow them to take place once the transition to individual electoral registration is complete.

Electoral Register: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Constitutional and Political Reform of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 344W, on electoral register: standards, what assessment she has made of the effects of the visits of electoral registration officers in Northern Ireland to schools with 10 or more pupils between the ages of 16 and 17 on electoral registration for that age group in Northern Ireland.

Andrew Robathan: Concerns about under-representation of attainers were raised following the introduction of individual registration in Northern Ireland in 2002. The registration of attainers improved significantly with the introduction of the Chief Electoral Officer’s Schools Initiative. The Electoral Commission’s 2012 report on continuous electoral registration in Northern Ireland estimated that 66% of attainers were registered.
	Although the number of attainers registered in December 2013 fell to 9,945 from 11,477 in December 2012, the Electoral Commission’s recent report on the electoral registration canvass suggests that this can be partially explained by the fact that the Electoral Office did not conduct any activity with schools to register attainers in autumn 2013 due to canvass activity. The Electoral Office will commence school visits in September 2014 for the academic year 2014-15 and will also take applications from those pupils not visited last year.

Foreign Investment in UK

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent estimate she has made of foreign direct investment in Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: Northern Ireland remains one of the most successful regions in the UK for attracting foreign direct investment, attracting some 6% of inward FDI with around 3% of the UK population.
	The Northern Ireland Investment Conference, which the Prime Minister and I attended, held last year is continuing to bear fruit and I welcome the recent announcement that Convergys-with whose senior management the Prime Minister took time at the Conference to discuss the benefits of Northern Ireland as a cost-effective investment location-is setting up a customer service centre in Londonderry in collaboration with its client EE.
	This investment will bring 333 jobs to the city over the coming year and generate over £5 million to the local economy annually.
	The recent announcements from Concentrix of its intention to reinvest in Northern Ireland and add a further 1,043 jobs to its existing work force of 800, and from EY (which also attended the Investment Conference) of a further investment leading to 486 more jobs, are welcome votes of confidence that Northern Ireland is an excellent place to invest and to grow a business.
	These two investments will inject some £38 million in salaries into the Northern Ireland economy.
	It is particularly heartening that so many companies choose to reinvest after they have established a presence in Northern Ireland and seen for themselves the benefits it can offer as a cost competitive business environment together with its high quality and well educated work force.
	The G8 summit, which the PM brought to County Fermanagh in June 2013, also highlighted to the world the benefits of Northern Ireland as a place to visit and invest.

Giro d'Italia

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contribution her Department made towards the cost of the staging of the Giro d’Italia in Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: Sport is a devolved matter therefore there is no provision for the Northern Ireland Office to contribute to the funding of the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia.
	The Giro d’Italia is supported by Northern Ireland Tourist Board and part funded by the European regional development fund under the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.
	My officials have, at the request of the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, engaged with the Home Office and several of our embassies over the past fortnight, to help facilitate the granting of visas to some of the elite riders and help deal with queries that they have raised.

Public Inquiries

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate she has made of the cost of public enquiries relating to Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Theresa Villiers: The cost for public inquires relating to Northern Ireland published by my Department since 1997 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 The Bloody Sunday inquiry 191.5 
			 The Rosemary Nelson inquiry 46.5 
			 The Billy Wright inquiry 30.5 
		
	
	In addition, the Robert Hamill inquiry has been completed, but the report has not been published due to ongoing legal proceedings. The cost as of February 2011 stood at £33 million.
	No public inquiries have been established by the current government. In 2011, we set up a review into the murder of Patrick Finucane, which reported in 2012 at a cost of £1.1 million.

Sports

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of sports-related tourism to the economy of Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: Northern Ireland has organised a number of world class sporting events which bring huge benefits, for tourism and the economy (sometimes providing a return against investment of 5:1) as well as also encouraging people to participate in sport.
	The return of the Irish Open to Royal Portrush in 2012 for the first time since 1953 attracted some 130,000 spectators and was beamed into 350 million households. Golf tourism is particularly valuable as it contributes more to the economy with the average spend per trip being £300-£450 compared to the other visitors to Northern Ireland who spend some £188 per trip. I look forward to Northern Ireland hosting the Irish Open again in 2015 at Royal County Down and 2017 at the Lough Erne Resort which was also the location for the 2013 G8 summit.
	The World Police and Fire Games in 2013 (the third biggest sporting event in the world) brought a direct economic boost of £7.34 million to the Northern Ireland economy. It has been reported that this figure could rise to £25 million once longer-term benefits to the tourist industry resulting from return visits, the positive media coverage received for Northern Ireland internationally and future international events that will come as a result of the games, are included.
	I am advised for example, that one corporate sponsor of the WPFG decided to locate its international conference in Northern Ireland instead of another location in Europe directly as a result of the success of the games.
	It is estimated that the “Grande Partenza” of the Giro d’Italia cycle race that commences in Belfast on 9 May (and featuring 200 riders from over 30 different countries and their technical teams and sponsors) will be seen by 775 million people in 174 countries. The Giro d’Italia is expected to attract 140,000 visitors to Northern Ireland and generate £2.5 million of economic activity and £10 million worth of worldwide media publicity as it showcases the stunning scenery of Northern Ireland to the world.

Anniversaries: World War II

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of VE Day in 2015.

Helen Grant: DCMS has no formal plans to commemorate VE day in 2015. However the Heritage Lottery Fund is open to applications for VE day related community projects.

Internet: EU Action

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies on voluntary restrictions by network providers of adult content of recent proposals from the European Parliament on a European single market for electronic communications;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of EU proposals to remove the right for network operators to block 18-plus content.

Edward Vaizey: We are aware that there some concerns that the European Parliament’s amendments to the draft connected continent regulation may restrict ISPs ability to block illegal content or to filter adult content at the request of customers. The UK Government supports the aims of the connect continent package, but let me clear that we will not agree to any proposals that restrict the ability of parents to protect their children from inappropriate content on line. We are confident that this was not the intention of the European Parliament and we are working with EU member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament to deliver a final package that promotes an open, safe and secure internet.

Mental Health

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to improve cross-departmental working on promotion of the UK's arts and health sector in order to improve mental health care and wellbeing.

Edward Vaizey: I recently chaired a roundtable meeting on arts and health, which was attended by the co-chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, representatives from academia and health and Government officials, including from the Department of Health. DCMS will continue to work closely with the Department of Health on the promotion of the UK's arts and health sector in order to improve mental health care and wellbeing.

VisitEngland

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what nation branding work VisitEngland has commissioned from external consultants since its inception; with which consultancies the contracts were placed; and what the total value was of the contracts, by supplier.

Helen Grant: Since its inception on 1 April 2009, the total spent on brand related activity by VisitEngland, including research, motivational barriers, brand messaging and local level brand management, is c.£61,000. Contracts were placed with three consultancies: Olive Insight, Firelighter and Brand Vista. Details are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Agency Activity Value (£) 
			 2011 Olive Insight To research and guide VE’s wider marketing strategy 1c.11,000 
			 2011 Firelighter To develop the brand messaging informed by the research project 10,000 
			 2011 Brand Vista Further development of local level brand positioning and (attracting visitors to our most popular places that can dispersing consumers to surrounding areas) 40,000 
			 1 The branding element was included only in the qualitative stage, and accounted for c.35% of the qualitative report—VisitEngland therefore estimate the spend on this element to be c.£11,000.

Older Workers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities what recent progress he has made on the appointment of a business champion for older workers.

Jennifer Willott: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 651W.

Pupils: Bullying

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities which organisations have been awarded funding to conduct a review into homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

Jennifer Willott: The contract to conduct a review of the available evidence on the most effective practices to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools has been awarded to NatCen Social Research following a rigorous assessment process.

Air Pollution

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, columns 474-75W, on air pollution, how much funding has been allocated to local projects by the Government's air quality grant programme in each year since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: Total funding allocated to local projects across England by DEFRA’s Air Quality Grant Programme since 2010:
	
		
			 Financial year Final award (£) 
			 2010-11 2,361,000 
			 2011-12 3,078,745 
			 2012-13 3,100,000 
			 2013-14 1,000,000 
			   
			 Total 9,539,745

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made on the review of partnership funding for flood defences; and when the results of this review will be published.

Dan Rogerson: The independent evaluation of the Flood and Coastal Resilience Partnership Funding approach was published on 23 April 2014. The report is available on the DEFRA R&D web pages at the following the link:
	http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx ?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location= None&ProjectID=18734&FromSearch=Y&Publisher= &SearchText=fd2663&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder= Asc&Paging=10#Description

Plastic Bags

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to be able to announce his proposals for a single use plastic bag charge.

Dan Rogerson: Last September the Government announced plans to introduce a charge on single use plastic bags with effect from October 2015. We are developing our proposals and in doing so are considering the recent report of the Environmental Audit Committee, together with the response to our Call for Evidence. We will announce our response as soon as possible.

Conditions of Employment

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps he has taken to ensure that zero-hour contracts are not used in an exploitative manner.

Jennifer Willott: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), launched a consultation on proposals to tackle abuses in the use of zero hours contracts. The consultation was launched on 19 December 2013, closed on 13 March 2014 and received over 30,000 responses.
	The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Literacy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of adults in (a) the UK and (b) the smallest geographical areas in the UK for which information is held are functionally illiterate.

Matthew Hancock: The 2011 Skills for Life survey provides an estimate of adult literacy levels for people aged between 16 and 65 years old in England, based on fieldwork conducted between May 2010 and February 2011. The headline findings of the survey were published in December 2011.1 The survey results show that 14.9% (5.1 million) of people had a literacy level below level 1. Level 1 is viewed as the level required to be ‘functionally literate’, the level needed to get by in life and at work2, and so people below this level could be defined as having a low level of literacy. Level 1 is equivalent to GCSE grades D-G. Adults with skills below level 1 can read or write, but their skills may be limited, for example, they may not be able to read bus or train timetables.
	The 2011 Skills for Life survey also provided Small Area modelled estimates3 for sub-regional geographies. This analysis provides estimates of the proportion and number of people above and below the ‘functional literacy’ threshold (i.e. National Qualification Framework Level 1) for sub-regional geographies in England. The smallest geographical area reported in this analysis are middle-layer super output areas—these are small areas of consistent size (of about 7,200 people) used for the collection and reporting of small area statistics by the Office for National Statistics.
	The recent OECD Survey of Adult Skills, published in 2013, based on fieldwork August 2011 and March 2012, included estimates of UK literacy levels, based on England and Northern Ireland (Scotland and Wales did not participate in the survey). National reports for England and Northern Ireland4 based on the OECD survey note that 17% of adults in England had low proficiency in literacy (i.e. at or below the OECD level 1 in literacy, roughly equivalent to below NQF level 1 literacy), compared to 18% in Northern Ireland.
	1 TNS-BMRB and AlphaPlus Consultancy Ltd. (2011) “2011 Skills for Life survey: headline findings”, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, BIS research paper 57. Available online at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/0-9/11-1367-2011-skills-for-life-survey-findings.pdf
	accessed on 7 May 2014.
	2 As defined in the Leitch review of skills. See Leitch, S. (2006) “Prosperity for All in the Global Economy—world class skills”, available online at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/6/4/leitch_finalreport051206.pdf
	accessed on 7 May 2014: page 61-62.
	3 Available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/2011-skills-for-life-survey-small-area-estimation-data
	accessed on 6 February 2014.
	4 NFER (2013) The International Survey of Adult Skills: adult literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills in England, BIS research report 139. Available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246534/bis-13-1221-international-survey-of-adult-skills-2012.pdf
	accessed on 7 May 2014; NFER (2013) The International Survey of Adult Skills: adult literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills in Northern Ireland, Department for Employment and Learning. Available online at:
	http://www.delni.gov.uk/international-survey-adult-skills-2012.pdf
	accessed on 7 May 2014.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Skills and Enterprise dated 27 February 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr John Mannion.

Matthew Hancock: Although the Department has received and responded to earlier correspondence from the right hon. Member on behalf of this constituent, we have no record of having received the letter referred to. If he could send a copy of this latest correspondence, we will deal with it as a matter of urgency.

Shipbuilding

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the announcement of 25 April 2014, entitled Chancellor puts UK at forefront of ocean research with new polar science ship, if he will take steps to ensure that the new polar research ship is constructed in a UK shipyard.

David Willetts: This new polar flagship presents a significant opportunity for British business to show that they can compete with the best in the world. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will be working hard to make sure that British business are aware of the major opportunities around the project. The UK has world class skills and technology in this area and the Government hopes that UK marine and maritime companies will take the wider range of opportunities-from the design and building of the ship, through to its operation and maintenance.
	This ship will cost more than £200 million and legally it has to be procured through open competition. This ensures a fair process so that the UK gets the best possible product with the best value to the taxpayer. The Natural Environment Research Council’s British Antarctic Survey will be operating the ship. They will be consulting the scientific community on the detailed specification for the ship shortly. An invitation to tender is expected to be issued in summer 2015.

Timber: Imports

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of levels of imports of wood for biomass combustion within the UK in the last three years for which figures are available; and from what countries that wood was imported.

Michael Fallon: Data on the value of imports of fuel wood are published by HMRC in Overseas Trade Statistics. Data for the years 2011 to 2013 are shown in the following table for Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) 245.01-Fuel wood, in logs, in billets, in twigs, in faggots or in similar forms (excluding wood waste).
	
		
			 UK imports of fuel wood (SITC 245.01) by partner country (sorted by total value of fuel wood imports over the three years, high to low) 
			 £ 
			  2011 2012 2013 
			 Total (all countries) 2,164,613 2,515,611 3,668,665 
			     
			 Latvia 855,773 573,022 1,508,111 
			 Netherlands 592,400 892,166 576,180 
			 Poland 208,031 200,393 771,578 
			 Ukraine 72,122 117,802 201,861 
			 Indonesia 0 118,859 201,681 
			 Irish Republic 18,387 7,802 151,518 
			 Ghana 52,855 49,662 47,408 
			 Germany 0 140,172 7,398 
			 South Africa 108,207 9,337 0 
			 Estonia 0 112,771 0 
			 Thailand 50,750 53,545 5,680 
			 United States 0 41,614 64,413 
			 Malaysia 18,455 42,920 40,101 
			 Sweden 52 62,245 10,451 
			 Australia 65,785 0 0 
			 Namibia 47,732 6,528 1,430 
			 Hong Kong 0 46,680 0 
			 Belarus 27,958 0 0 
			 Egypt 0 8,807 15,494 
			 Lithuania 1,369 2,144 20,669 
			 Bosnia and Herz. 0 0 20,053 
			 Vietnam 13,877 3,946 0 
			 Canada 0 0 16,303 
			 Denmark 0 14,536 0 
			 China 6,165 6,251 610 
			 Honduras 12,853 0 0 
			 Pakistan 0 4,409 4,915 
			 Jamaica 8,318 0 0 
			 Guyana 3,524 0 0 
			 India 0 0 1,822 
			 UAE 0 0 530 
			 Spain 0 0 459 
			 Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics

Business Premises: Change of Use

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many conversions of office premises to housing have been notified to him since the lifting of planning approval requirements for such conversions; and how many social housing units have been included in such conversions.

Nicholas Boles: New homes are being created now because of the permitted development right for office to residential change of use. These new homes are helping to address the country’s housing need regardless of tenure. Developers seeking to convert an office to a residential property are required to seek prior approval from the local planning authority. A survey by Estates Gazette has found that there were more than 2,250 applications for change of use from office to residential in the first six months since the change was introduced. Some of these developments are, in themselves, each set to deliver more than 100 homes. The Department will begin collecting data on the number of prior approval applications from local planning authorities later in the year, covering applications from April 2014.

Combined Authorities

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish the guidance he has issued to combined authorities on good practice on the representation of opposition councillors on (a) the new bodies set up under the Combined Authority regulations and (b) the scrutiny panels; and what sanctions he has in the event of combined authorities not complying with best practice.

Brandon Lewis: Following the recent establishment of four new combined authorities, I wrote to the leaders of the councils involved setting out the good practice that I expect them to follow with regards to governance and transparency. We believe that following such good practice will ensure that the various political parties represented on all the councils concerned will have appropriate involvement and influence in the work of the combined authorities. A copy of those letters were also published on the Government’s website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-brandon-lewis-on-combined-authorities-governance-and-transparency
	and
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-leaders-of-the-combined-authority-for-the-area-of-durham-northumberland-and-tyne-and-wear
	The Government believes that it would reinforce the confidence all have in the effectiveness and accountability of combined authorities and economic prosperity boards, if the following of this good practice was guaranteed. I launched a consultation on 30 April regarding changes that the Government proposes to make to the legislation relating to combined authorities and economic prosperity boards. This consultation includes the proposal to require combined authorities and economic prosperity boards to have one or more overview and scrutiny committee(s) constituted with a membership reflecting the political balance of the councils concerned. This consultation closes on 24 June and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposals-to-amend-legislation-relating-to-combined-authorities-and-economic-prosperity-boards
	I have placed copies of the associated documents in the Library of the House.

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in his Department have been employed on zero-hour contracts in each of the last two years.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 1 May 2014
	My Department has employed the following numbers of staff on zero-hour contracts in each of the last two years:
	2012-13—two
	2013-14—two
	In all cases, these were short-term arrangements for individuals to complete specific pieces of work which required particular expertise or professional skills.

Fire Services

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department paid Sir Ken Knight in (a) salary, (b) fees and (c) expenses for the independent review of efficiency and operations in fire and rescue authorities in England.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 24 March 2014
	Sir Ken Knight worked on his independent review between 1 January and 22 June 2013. He was paid £53,635 during this period. Between 1 January and 28 January 2013, Sir Ken was also the Government’s Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser in addition to conducting initial fieldwork for his review. His salary rate while working on the Knight Review was in line with his previous salary rate when he was Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser.
	Sir Ken’s review found huge variations in the way the 46 fire and rescue authorities in England operate and highlighted the scope for the services to find £200 million in savings while safeguarding emergency operations and protecting public safety. His report highlighted the importance of collaboration with other local services in helping fire and rescue authorities to transform the way they run to meet the changing needs of communities. The Government will be publishing a formal response to the report in due course. The best fire and rescue authorities are already beginning to collaborate with police and ambulance services and local authorities—through co-location of stations and services, through sharing back office functions, including sharing senior staff, and through co-responding and joining up on service delivery.

Fire Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the letter of 30 April 2014 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to the chairmen of fire and rescue authorities and the Chairman of the Local Government Association's Fire Service Management Committee, if he will put forward the revised proposals for consideration by firefighters and the Fire Brigades Union.

Brandon Lewis: It is common knowledge that we agreed to ask the Government Actuary's Department to cost proposals put forward by the Fire Brigades Union. These were Fire Brigades Union proposals which the Government had not taken a view on.
	My letter to the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union of 23 April said
	“we are now considering this proposal across Government. While we are not yet in a position to respond positively to your suggested changes, I will inform you of the outcome of those deliberations as soon as possible”.
	I had also been clear with the Fire Brigades Union leadership that it was only possible to consider such proposals during a period when strike action was in abeyance. Rather than continue and finalise that constructive process the Fire Brigades Union leadership chose to call a halt to discussions prematurely by announcing strike action.

Homelessness

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) change and (b) percentage change was in the number of homelessness acceptances arising from the end of a private sector tenancy in each (i) London local authority and (ii) English region between March 2010 and December 2013.

Kris Hopkins: To assist public scrutiny, I have placed in the Library of the House, a table showing homelessness acceptances due to loss of private sector tenancy, by local authority, in each year from 2003 to 2013.
	Data is not collected by parliamentary constituency. My Department does not publish statistics by the former Government office regions.
	The dataset shows that under the last Administration, the average numbers were higher than under this Administration, especially when taking account the changes in the overall size to the private rented sector.
	I would note that the rental sector policies of HM Opposition would make the problem worse, by reducing the availability of private rented accommodation, forcing up rents and discouraging investment in the private rented sector. By contrast, this Government is increasing house building, delivering £19.5 billion of investment in affordable housing, supporting billions of private investment in new private rented accommodation, providing £470 million to prevent and tackle all forms of homelessness, and avoiding the excessive regulation which would harm the interests of tenants.

Local Government Finance

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the spending power is for (a) Wokingham Council and (b) Newcastle upon Tyne City Council in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 1 May 2014
	Spending power figures by local authority are published as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, which is laid before the House each year. This information is also reasonably accessible to the hon. Member on my Department’s website at:
	2014-15 and provisional 2015-16
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2014-to-2015
	2013-14
	www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/settle.htm

Non-domestic Rates

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to enable small businesses to claim a rates reduction to help them retain staff.

Brandon Lewis: As announced at the Autumn Statement, the Government has introduced in England a £1 billion package of business rates support for 2014-15. That includes the continued doubling of Small Business Rate Relief for a further year which we estimate will support 540,000 businesses. The Localism Act has also made it easier for small firms to claim the rate relief to which they are entitled. This support builds on the £11 billion a year of tax cuts this Government has announced to corporation tax, employer national insurance contributions and fuel duty.
	Business rates in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Non-domestic Rates: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of how many small businesses in Chelmsford constituency will benefit from the extension of the small business rate relief scheme.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 13 February 2014
	No estimate has been made of the number of small businesses in Chelmsford constituency that will benefit from the extension of the doubling of small business rate relief.
	The Government estimates around 540,000 businesses in England will benefit from the extension of the doubling of small business rate relief announced at autumn statement 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113.
	It is planned that next month some new local figures for small business rate relief by billing authority will be published.

Racial Discrimination

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much financial support his Department provided to Hope not Hate in each of the last three years; and what steps he takes to prevent the use of such monies for party political campaigning.

Stephen Williams: ‘Hope Not Hate’ has not received any financial support from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	This Department provided Searchlight Educational Trust, a registered charity, with a grant of £66,000 in the financial year 2012-13 to establish community partnerships to foster integration in four neighbourhoods.
	Following completion of the project, Searchlight Educational Trust changed their name to Hope Not Hate Educational Ltd. We monitored progress with the project closely and are satisfied that the funding for Searchlight Educational Trust was used for purposes outlined in the funding agreement and that no funding was used for party political campaigning. Conditions in the funding agreement prevent funds being spent on political campaigning. Furthermore, an organisation that exists for political purposes would not meet the criteria for charitable status-so we would be unable to award them grant under the Charities Act 2006.
	I am aware that it has been claimed that the Department has funded campaigning by Hope not Hate against a certain political party. This is completely untrue.

Social Security

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding will be put in place to support local discretionary welfare provision after 2015.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 16 January 2014
	: The nationally run Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans were poorly targeted and failed to help those most in need. So, in 2012 as part of wider welfare reform, the Department for Work and Pensions abolished these national discretionary schemes and transferred responsibility to local authorities so they could deliver and tailor new local support as part of their existing services to their communities.
	Councils can continue to provide support to those in their community who face financial difficulties or who find themselves in unavoidable circumstances, but there is no requirement to replicate the previous approach adopted by central Government.
	In contrast to a centralised grant system that was poorly targeted, under the Department for Work and Pensions’ reforms, councils can now choose how best to support local welfare needs within their areas-what is right for, say, Rochdale may not be for other authorities. Some councils have already chosen to wind down their dedicated schemes following underspends.
	In the next spending round period, from April 2015, central government continues to provide support to local authorities through general funds as part of the coalition Government’s commitment to reducing ring-fencing and ending top-down Whitehall control.
	The Department for Work and Pensions provided a separate fund for 2013-15 and are carrying out a review of the provision to date.

Social Security Benefits

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations he has received on the decision to withdraw the local welfare provision grant in 2015-16; and what consultation he undertook prior to making that decision.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 30 January 2014
	DCLG Ministers and officials talk regularly to elected members and officers of local authorities about a range of issues.
	The nationally run Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans were poorly targeted and failed to help those most in need. So, in 2012 as part of wider welfare reform, the Department for Work and Pensions abolished these national discretionary schemes and transferred responsibility to local authorities so they could deliver and tailor new local support as part of their existing services to their communities.
	Councils can continue to provide support to those in their community who face financial difficulties or who find themselves in unavoidable circumstances, but there is no requirement to replicate the previous approach adopted by central Government.
	In contrast to a centralised grant system that was poorly targeted, under the Department for Work and Pensions' reforms, councils can now choose how best to support local welfare needs within their areas-what is right for, say, Barrow and Furness may not be for other authorities. Some councils have already chosen to wind down their dedicated schemes following underspends.
	In the next spending round period, from April 2015, central Government continues to provide support to local authorities through general funds as part of the coalition Government's commitment to reducing ring-fencing and ending top-down Whitehall control.
	The Department for Work and Pensions provided a separate fund for 2013-2015 and are carrying out a review of the provision to date.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many families were placed in temporary accommodation in each London borough in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: I refer the right hon. Member to Live Table 784 available on my Department’s website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness
	The numbers of households in temporary accommodation in London are still well below the level they were at their peak, under the previous Administration, when they hit more than 63,800. Councils have a responsibility to move homeless households into settled accommodation as quickly as possible and we made common sense changes to the law to enable them to use suitable private rented homes. Indeed, the average stay in temporary accommodation in England has been reduced from 20 months at the beginning of 2010 to 14 months now.
	We have also seen a 42% reduction in the numbers of families with children in bed and breakfast for more than six weeks on this time last year across the country. The seven local authorities that we funded to tackle families in bed and breakfast have made significant progress achieving an overall reduction of 96% since the funding began.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the actual and percentage change was in the number of households from each London local authority provided with temporary accommodation outside their home borough between March 2010 and December 2013;
	(2)  if he will rank how many homeless households were placed in each London local authority by other local authorities since 2010; and how many homeless households each London local authority has placed in authorities other than their own since 2010.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 17 March 2014
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 713W.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the actual and percentage change was in the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation in each London local authority between March 2010 and December 2013.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 17 March 2014
	I refer the hon. Member to the Live Table 784 available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness
	The dataset is already accessible for statistical analysis.
	The number of households in temporary accommodation in London are still well below the level they were at their peak, under the previous Administration, when they hit more than 63,800. Councils have a responsibility to move homeless households into settled accommodation as quickly as possible and we made common sense changes to the law to enable them to use suitable private rented homes. Indeed the average stay in temporary accommodation in England has been reduced from 20 months at the beginning of 2010 to 14 months now.
	We have also seen a 42% reduction in the numbers of families with children in Bed and Breakfast for more than six weeks on this time last year across the country. The seven local authorities that we funded to tackle families in Bed and Breakfast have made significant progress achieving an overall reduction of 96% since the funding began.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many homeless households have been placed in temporary accommodation in each London local authority by councils other than their own in each of the last eight quarters;
	(2)  which 30 local authority areas have received the largest number of homeless households in temporary accommodation placed by London local authorities since March 2010;
	(3)  how many households have been placed in temporary accommodation in each London local authority by councils other than their own since March 2010;
	(4)  how many households have been placed in temporary accommodation by London councils in each local authority area outside London since March 2010.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 17 March 2014
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 713W.

Urban Areas

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to promote the enhancement of urban (a) green infrastructure and (b) waterways.

Nicholas Boles: The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should plan positively for the creation, protection, enhancement and management of green infrastructure. This is supported by the recently published planning guidance which includes guidance on green infrastructure.
	The maintenance and promotion of inland waterways is a matter for navigation authorities rather than Government. However, Government provides grant in aid funding to the two largest navigation authorities in England and Wales—the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to reply to Question 191523, on homeless households, tabled by the hon. Member for Westminster North on 11 March 2014.

Kris Hopkins: Question 191523 has been answered today.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to reply to questions 191722, 191723, 191726, 191727, 191728, 191729, 191730 and 191731, on homeless households, tabled by the hon. Member for Westminster North on 12 March 2014.

Kris Hopkins: Questions 191722, 191723, 191726, 191727, 191728, 191729, 191730 and 191731 were answered today.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full time members of staff in her Department have responsibility for issues relating to HIV/AIDS.

Justine Greening: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I provided to him on 11 March 2014, Official Report, column 187W.

Developing Countries: Malaria

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full time members of staff in her Department have responsibility for malaria programmes.

Justine Greening: There are 12 full-time staff in the Health Services Team and Global Funds Department whose roles include work on malaria. In addition there are a wide range of staff across the Department, including research, press, policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in the Regional Departments and country offices, whose roles include work on malaria.

Developing Countries: Marketing

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  which nation branding consultancies have been funded or part-funded by her Department to work in overseas states and territories in which it has operated in the last 10 years; and what fees have been paid to each of those consultancies in each year since 2004;
	(2)  whether her Department, its executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies have funded or made contribution towards funding relating to nation branding development in any overseas state or territory in which it operates or has operated in the last 10 years.

Justine Greening: DFID does not fund nation-branding development.

Nigeria

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether any adjustments have been made to her Department's funding programmes or priorities in Nigeria in response to the mass kidnapping of 14 April 2014.

Lynne Featherstone: We are currently reviewing existing programmes which are active in northern Nigeria and considering with other UK government departments what additional support may be required to support the Government of Nigeria in its response to the abductions in Borno State.
	DFID’s Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme is already scaling up its work in Borno State. This includes commencing work with a range of local civil society organisations to prevent violence against women and to support survivors of sexual violence, including through the provision of trauma counselling.

Nigeria

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings she and Ministers in her Department have held with Nigerian (a) ministers, (b) government officials and (c) consular officials regarding the safety of young women in Nigeria since the mass kidnapping of 14 April 2014.

Lynne Featherstone: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading on engagement with Nigerian Government officials. I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds), on 6 May 2014, Official Report, column 74W, to the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman).
	In addition, DFID has discussed what development support we can offer with our key development counterparts in Government.

Housing: Taxation

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what methods of assessing liability for a levy on higher value homes have been considered by his Department in the course of preparatory work on the introduction of such a tax; whether individual valuation of properties has been considered in such work; and what estimate has been made of the cost of implementation of such a tax;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the yield of a levy on higher value homes during the preparatory work carried out by his Department into the possible introduction of such a tax;
	(3)  what estimate has been made of the number of properties in each region liable for a possible levy on higher value homes;
	(4)  what work has been carried out by his Department’s officials on the possible introduction of a levy on higher value homes; what starting points for liability in the value of properties have been considered in the course of any such work; and if he will publish that work;
	(5)  what consultations have been carried out with (a) valuers and (b) other organisations on the possible introduction of a levy on higher value homes;
	(6)  what account his Department has taken of mortgage liability in its assessment of liability for levy on higher value homes as part of its work preparatory to the possible introduction of such a tax.

David Gauke: The Government do not intend to introduce a new levy on higher value homes.
	The number of residential properties in the UK valued at more than £2 million was estimated before Budget 2012 to be around 55,000. The Treasury does not have a precise regional breakdown of properties worth over £2 million.
	Budget 2012 introduced a number of changes to high value property tax, including the introduction of the annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED), a tax on residential properties valued at more than £2 million owned through certain corporate ‘envelopes’.
	Self-assessment was chosen for ATED. The cost of implementing ATED was set out in the tax information and impact note published alongside Budget 2013, available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/tiin-1182.pdf
	The cost of implementation of a new levy would be dependent on the nature of the tax.
	As part of the introduction of ATED, a public consultation document was published and a variety of organisations responded. The response to the consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/ensuring-the-fair-taxation-of-residential-property-transactions
	When developing ATED, no account was taken of mortgage liability.

Individual Savings Accounts

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who have utilised their full tax-free ISA allowance in each of the last three years in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency.

David Gauke: Until 1 July 2014 there are two allowances for ISAs: a cash and an overall allowance. This answer assumes the hon. Member is asking about the overall allowance.
	The following table contains the number of individuals who made full use of their (£10,680) ISA allowance in 2011-12 in the UK and in Scotland.
	
		
			 Country Number of individuals (thousands) 
			 Scotland 73 
			 United Kingdom 1,005 
		
	
	A breakdown for 2012-13 and 2013-14 is not yet available. Constituency-level statistics are not available.
	As announced at Budget 2014, from 1 July 2014 the overall annual New ISA subscription limit will be increased to £15,000 and can be used for either cash or stocks and shares investments, or any combination of the two, up to this limit.
	This measure will reduce income tax on savings for people constrained by the current limits, improving incentives to save and increasing real household disposable incomes. Over 6 million people are expected to benefit from these increases, including over 5 million adults expected to be constrained by the cash ISA limit.

International Monetary Fund: Ukraine

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution the UK will make towards the $17 billion IMF package for Ukraine.

Andrea Leadsom: As a member of the IMF, the UK will be involved in the IMF’s $17 billion programme for Ukraine. The UK’s contribution to the Fund is not public spending and would have no fiscal implications on the UK: it does not add to our debt or deficit. With its preferred creditor status, lending to the IMF is one of the most credit-worthy institutions in the world and no-one who has ever provided money to the IMF has ever lost that money.

International Monetary Fund: Ukraine

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of the $3.2 billion released by the IMF to Ukraine's interim government that will be spent on servicing debt to Russian gas providers.

Andrea Leadsom: The IMF's programme is intended to put the Ukrainian economy on a more stable footing, part of which involves Ukraine servicing its legitimate debts. The actual repayment of Ukraine's gas debts is a matter for the Government in Kyiv to discuss with their creditors.

Landfill Communities Fund

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of Landfill Community Fund grants to projects in (a) Dudley North constituency, (b) Dudley Borough, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.

Nicky Morgan: ENTRUST, the regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF), has provided the value of the LCF in Dudley, the west midlands and England from the inception of the fund to date and for the last financial year. This is set out in the following table. ENTRUST does not have this information broken down by constituency.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Dudley West Midlands (includes Dudley) England 
			 2013-14 0.142 2.17 67 
			 1996 to date 2.3 24 987 
		
	
	Given the level of unspent funds that the LCF continues to hold, reducing the value of the fund by less than 10% is not expected to impact on communities’ ability to receive LCF funding.

Minimum Wage: Shipping

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times failure to pay the minimum wage has been (a) reported, (b) prosecuted and (c) penalised in the maritime sector since the Equality Act 2010 came into force.

David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of national minimum wage (NMW) legislation very seriously and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforce the NMW legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999.
	HMRC investigates all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, in addition carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.
	Since 2006, HMRC started considering prosecution for minimum wage offences. Since then, there have been seven investigations into employers in the water transport sector. None of these were identified as having failed to pay the minimum wage.

Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the number of staff required at HM Revenue and Customs in Cumbernauld following his Department's decision to award the mail management contract to the EDM Group.

David Gauke: The timetable for implementation is still being finalised, HMRC does not yet have details of how and when teams currently handling post will be impacted.

Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the savings to the public purse provided by the recent award of the mail management contract to the EDM Group.

David Gauke: Over the three year contract term it is estimated that there is a minimum £8.9 million saving to the public purse when comparing the contract cost with an in house provision.

Taxation: Self-employed

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people paid their income tax via the use of personal service companies in 2012-13.

David Gauke: HMRC data shows the total annual income of individuals by income type, but not which type of business this income derives from. Further, there is no statutory definition of a personal service company. For these reasons, it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the number of people who paid income tax via the use of personal service companies.

Welfare Tax Credits: Self-employed

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people registered as self-employed claimed tax credits in each of the last five years.

Nicky Morgan: The following table is based on finalised tax credits administrative data for each financial year. The latest data available are 2011-12.
	
		
			 Thousand 
			 Tax year Number of families in receipt of tax credits containing at least one member identified as self-employed 
			 2007-08 820 
			 2008-09 860 
			 2009-10 910 
			 2010-11 950 
			 2011-12 910

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funds the Crown Estate received from offshore wind farms in each coastal constituency in each of the last five years.

Nicky Morgan: It is not possible to breakdown the revenue The Crown Estate receives from its offshore activity against constituency boundaries onshore.
	The Crown Estate’s Annual report and accounts is available at:
	http://ar2013.thecrownestate.co.uk/
	and includes a section on Energy and Infrastructure.

Conditions of Employment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from what date he plans that the refusal of a job on a zero hours contract will be sanctionable by Jobcentre Plus advisers; and if he will provide protection to claimants with caring responsibilities which limit their work availability.

Esther McVey: JSA claimants are not required to apply for zero hours contract jobs and therefore will not be sanctioned if they do not apply for such jobs.
	Universal credit means that claimants can accept any offer of work without fear of their benefits or the support they receive from the Jobcentre being negatively affected. They will always be better off in work.
	Under universal credit, if a claimant turns down the offer of employment without good reason a sanction can be applied. Claimants always have the opportunity to provide a good reason.
	Claimants who turn down the offer of employment under a zero hours contract because of an exclusivity clause will always be considered to have good reason and no sanction will apply.
	Decision Makers will also consider whether the job was suitable for the claimant taking into account the specifics of the role, the type of work, any agreed restrictions on hours and the claimant’s particular circumstances, including any caring responsibilities.

Employment Schemes

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to ensure that unemployed people who volunteer for the Help to Work Scheme do not do the same work as offenders on community service orders.

Esther McVey: These are two entirely different schemes and we would expect the requirements of placements for offenders to be very different. The welfare to work companies we have contracted to provide community work placements are experienced at delivering different programmes across different areas of Government.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) North Lanarkshire and (d) Airdrie and Shotts constituency applied to the jobseeker's allowance hardship regime and were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

Esther McVey: This data is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the date on which the last new claims will be made for jobseeker's allowance.

Esther McVey: The closure of new claims to tax credits will be informed by the universal credit implementation plans. DWP current planning assumptions are that the universal credit service will be available in each part of Great Britain during 2016, having closed down new claims to the legacy benefits it replaced; with the majority of the remaining legacy case load moving to universal credit during 2016 and 2017. Final decisions on these elements of the programme will be informed by the development of the enhanced digital solution.
	We will continue to work closely with HMRC on the specific process and timing for the closure of new claims to working tax credit.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) Hampshire who applied to the jobseeker's allowance hardship regime were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful in each of the last three years.

Esther McVey: This data is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Pensioners: Income

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of what constitutes an adequate retirement income; what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) men and (b) women who will achieve this income; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: In September 2013 we published the “Framework for the analysis of future pension incomes” which contained details of our modelling of adequate retirement incomes. Recognising that an individual’s income in working life affects the retirement income that they would deem to be adequate, we use replacement rates (the ratio of retirement income to working age income) instead of a single income value to assess adequacy.
	We use the following set of five replacement rate targets as determined in the Pensions Commission’s 2004 report to define adequate replacement rates:
	
		
			 Average annual equivalised gross household earnings between 50 and State Pension Age (2014 earnings terms) Target replacement rate for adequate retirement income (percentage) 
			 Under £12,300 80 
			 £12,300 to £22,700 70 
			 £22,700 to £32,500 67 
			 £32,500 to £52,000 60 
			 Over £52,000 50 
		
	
	To account for income sharing among couples, we use equivalised household level income for both working age and retirement incomes.
	Using the Department’s Pensim2 model we look at the simulated replacement rates of individuals reaching state pension age between 2014 and 2059, yielding around 27.9 million individuals in our adequacy measure.
	Our analysis shows that we expect there around 56% (around 15.7 million) of those individuals to have an adequate replacement rate. It also shows that around (a) 55% of men and (b) 57% of women in our measure will have an adequate replacement rate.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made in implementing the Simple Payment initiative; how many people use it; and what steps he has taken to ensure its resilience.

Michael Penning: The Simple Payment service is continuously monitored to ensure satisfactory performance. As a result 99.82% of transactions over the past six months have completed successfully at the first attempt.
	There are in total 137,617 customers registered to use the service.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the creation of a Single Fraud Investigation Service on the level of fraud against local authorities.

Esther McVey: The introduction of single fraud investigation service will ensure that all allegations of local authority welfare benefit fraud are investigated appropriately in accordance with a single policy. As such the SFIS project strengthens the approach to investigating and tackling welfare benefit fraud in local authorities.

Unemployment: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking and what budget he has allocated to help tackle youth unemployment in (a) Barnsley and (b) South Yorkshire.

Esther McVey: The Government are aware of the problems facing young jobseekers in the labour market and have put in place a substantial menu of provision to help them move into work.
	The Youth Contract provides intensive support for all 18 to 24-year-olds. Extra funding is being made available to support the most vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training into learning, an apprenticeship or job with training.
	This comprehensive package of support is enhanced by the Flexible Support Fund, which Jobcentre Plus District managers can use to address locally identified skills needs. Also, the Work Programme provides tailored support to those claimants furthest from the labour market.
	Additionally, on 14 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that funding of £50 million Youth Contract under spend would be made available to cities.
	For the Sheffield City Region they received £5 million to offer intensive adviser and mentor-led support for young people alongside a specialist training programme aimed at equipping young people with the right skills to match local employer needs.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department plans to handle applications for universal credit from people with annual PAYE status.

Esther McVey: I refer the right hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 863W.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support for the payment of mortgage interest will be available for universal credit recipients in low paid work; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: Under the current system, low paid workers are able to supplement their earnings by claiming support from tax credits. However, tax credits do not make any allowance for mortgage interest payments. Similarly, when universal credit replaces the tax credit system, there will be no entitlement to help with mortgage interest during any period in which the claimant is in paid work.
	However, the earnings rules are far more generous in universal credit. This means that most people, particularly those on low incomes, have a significantly greater incentive to move into work than under the current system.
	The vast majority of people claiming UC will be better off in work, even if they work part-time and even if they receive a low hourly rate of pay. For example, a lone parent receiving the average amount of mortgage interest who takes up a job that pays the national minimum wage will be better off than under the current system if he or she works just seven hours a week.

Vacancies: Internet

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on the Universal Jobmatch programme between (a) April and September 2012, (b) October 2012 and March 2013, (c) April and September 2013, (d) October 2013 and March 2014 and (e) April and September 2014.

Esther McVey: The Programme expenditure for Universal Jobmatch over the period April 12 to September 14 includes contractual costs as well as internal costs. Any reporting therefore risks being in breach of commercial in confidence agreement.

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change have no plans to relocate either (a) staff or (b) offices to Brighton.

Floods: Cumbria

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, columns 712-3W, on floods: Cumbria, when the results of his public consultation will be published; and whether plans are in place for moving the nuclear waste stored at the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository if the site is deemed at risk.

Michael Fallon: The Environment Agency carried out a public consultation exercise between November 2013 and February 2014 on LLW Repository Ltd’s variation application to dispose of further radioactive waste at the Low Level Waste Repository. Submissions received as part of this exercise are available on the Environment Agency’s Public Register. Responses will be published by the Environment Agency before the end of 2014, as part of a second consultation on a draft decision on the variation application. It is then anticipated that a final decision will be published in the spring of 2015.
	As part of the Environmental Safety Case for the repository, LLW Repository Ltd were required to consider the need to move some or all of the radioactive waste disposed of at the facility given the best current understanding of likely coastal erosion timescales and all relevant technical factors. This work has demonstrated that the risks presented by leaving the radioactive waste in place are consistent with relevant legislation, standards and guidance. The most appropriate option for the environment and people, now and into the future, is not to recover and move the radioactive waste and therefore no plans have been put in place for this.

Fossil Fuels

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, column 791W, on fossil fuels: imports, how much in thousand tonnes of (a) oil and (b) gas was (i) exported from and (ii) imported to the UK in 2012 and 2013.

Michael Fallon: Data on gas trade in units of thousand tonnes is not available, the standard unit of measurement is GWh.
	In 2012, the UK imported 53,763 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 534,987 GWh of gas and exported 28,535 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 131,711 GWh of gas.
	In 2013, provisional figures show that the UK imported 50,311 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 523,506 GWh of gas and exported 30,382 thousand tonnes of crude oil and 99,582 GWh of gas.

Fracking

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make an assessment of the British Medical Journal editorial Public Health England’s draft report on shale gas extraction: Mistaking best practices for actual practices published on 17 April 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	Public Health England (PHE) has considered the British Medical Journal (BMJ) editorial on Public Health England’s draft report on shale gas extraction: Mistaking best practices for actual practices, published on 17 April 2014. PHE’s response to the article was published online on 30 April 2014 and can be found at:
	www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g2728?tab=responses
	PHE’s response to the BMJ article states that the conclusion of the report that risks from the process of shale gas extraction will be low if operations are properly run and regulated was a considered judgment. PHE has identified those aspects of operations that are considered to pose the greatest risks. PHE has made a number of recommendations for the control of risks, as have others. If shale gas extraction does take place, PHE will work with regulators to help ensure that environmental monitoring and health surveillance programmes are implemented appropriately. PHE agrees with Kovats
	et al
	(Lancet 383, 757-8; 2014) on the potential for health impact assessments (HIA) to play a role in informing policy and local planning processes, considering all issues associated with shale gas extraction which may affect health, including greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. PHE will seek to support HIAs and will continue to evaluate evidence on health risks associated with shale gas extraction and related technologies.

Fracking

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will discuss the potential health risks of fracking with (a) medical professionals and (b) the Secretary of State for Health; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Public Health England has carried out a review into the potential health risks from chemical and radiological pollutants from shale gas extraction processes. This review, published in October 2013, took account of available information published up to 2012. It is being updated to take account of new information.
	The review was conducted in response to requests to provide specialist advice to those responsible for public health protection, including local authorities and regulators. The review concluded that the risks to public health from exposure to emissions from shale gas extraction are low if operations are properly run and regulated. In the UK, shale gas developers and operators will be required, through the planning and environmental permitting processes, to satisfy the relevant regulators that their proposals and operations will minimise the potential for pollution and risks to public health.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his oral contribution of 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 908, on energy price freeze, 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of Bloomberg's analysis of investment in renewables;
	(2)  what the evidential basis is for the statement that average annual investment in renewables has more than doubled in the current Parliament compared with the previous one.

Michael Fallon: This shows that average annual investment in renewables has more than doubled in the current Parliament, compared with the previous one.
	
		
			 New Investment in UK Renewable electricity 
			  Total ($ million) 
			 2005 3,292 
			 2006 2,974 
			 2007 4,454 
			 2008 4,511 
			 2009 11,337 
			 2010 9,651 
			 2011 10,996 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 10,339 
			 2013 11,981 
			 Source: Bloomberg Energy Finance 
		
	
	There are a number of sources analysing and interpreting new investment in UK renewable electricity, including DECC’s own analysis. However, data are not always readily comparable owing to differences in methodology, data collection points, timings and market coverage.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the total cost was of support under the feed-in-tariff for (a) solar, (b) wind, (c) anaerobic digestion, (d) hydro and (e) the sub-15KW wind sector in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: The total spending for the Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) scheme is set out as follows.
	
		
			  Spending on FITs (£) 
			 2010-11 14,435,324.77 
			 2011-12 150,756,063.58 
			 2012-13 506,328,139 
		
	
	All figures are nominal, and are published in Ofgem's annual report; 2013-14 figures will be published at the end of 2014:
	https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/feed-tariff-fit-scheme/feed-tariff-reports/annual-reports
	We do not publish information on spending on individual technologies within the FITs scheme, nor on spending on individual bands for each technology. More information about deployment levels of the different technologies supported by FITs is available via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monthly-small-scale-renewable-deployment

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects of EU state aid rules on the UK feed-in tariff policy framework; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The European Commission adopted new guidelines for Energy and Environmental Aid (EEAG) on 9 April. Existing schemes, such as the feed-in tariff scheme (FITs), are not required to be brought into line with these new guidelines for as long as the relevant scheme remains covered by its existing EU state aid approval. It would only need to be brought into line if we were to introduce a change to the scheme that would, in itself, require state aid notification, as this would be outside the existing approval. If, after consultation on any alterations to FITs, we were to propose such a change, we would consider the trade-offs and risks for the scheme as a whole before reaching a final policy decision.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in the UK solar PV sector in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Gregory Barker: DECC does not hold this data.
	In March the National Solar Centre estimated that the industry employs 13,723 people on a full-time basis.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the potential contribution of solar farms to the Government's 2020 renewable energy target; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: As set out in the Solar PV Strategy, published in April 2013, solar PV is an important part of the UK’s energy mix. In the EMR delivery plan we estimated a total of between 10 and 12GW of solar photovoltaic across all scales would be installed by 2020. Of this we anticipate that 2.4-4GW will be large scale solar PV installations greater than 5MW.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the amount of private sector investment committed to large-scale solar PV farm projects in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of an early reduction in Renewables Obligation support on those levels of investment.

Gregory Barker: We do not hold data on the amount of private investment committed to large scale solar PV projects.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to define and safeguard quality in solar farm developments.

Gregory Barker: In April 2014 we published the Solar PV Strategy1, which set out the principle that solar PV should be: appropriately sited, give proper weight to environmental considerations such as landscape and visual impact, heritage and local amenity, and provide opportunities for local communities to influence decisions that affect them and gain some form of community benefit.
	The Solar Trade Association has produced “10 Commitments” for solar farm developers2, and the National Solar Centre has produced its best practice guide for large scale solar PV development.3 DECC will continue to work with industry through the Strategy Working Group to promote industry best-practice.
	1Available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf
	2 Available at:
	http://www.solar-trade.org.uk/media/STA%2010%20commitments%20v%2010.pdf
	3Available at:
	http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/other_pdfs/KN5524_Planning_Guidance_reduced.pdf

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of contracts for difference auctioning on the quality of solar farms.

Gregory Barker: The eligibility criteria for solar farms under contracts for difference are set out in the allocation regulations. Any solar farm must meet these criteria in order to be able to apply for a CfD.
	In April 2014 the Government published the Solar PV Strategy1, which sets out that DECC will continue to work with industry, to promote industry best-practice for the development of solar farms.
	1 Available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of how much solar farm capacity (a) has been installed in the UK and (b) will be installed (i) in 2015-16 and (ii) by 2020.

Gregory Barker: Energy Trends published in March 2014, show that at the end of 2013, there were 2,698 MW1 of installed capacity across all scales of solar photovoltaic. From January to the end of March 2014, the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which tracks all renewables projects over 0.01 MW through the planning system (including both building mounted and ground mounted solar PV), shows an additional 264.37 MW2 of solar PV installed.
	It is not possible to state precisely how much solar PV will be installed in 2015-16.
	1 Available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295362/ET_March_2014.PDF
	2 Available at:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects the solar PV permitted development rights consultation referred to in his Department's solar strategy to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government is working with the Department for Energy and Climate Change on the introduction of a permitted development right in England for the installation of rooftop solar panels up to 1 MWp on commercial buildings. This builds on the existing permitted development right for non-domestic properties which allows the installation of solar panels up to 50 kWp. We expect to consult on this proposal over the summer.

Tidal Power

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on community engagement in tidal energy developments.

Gregory Barker: DECC Ministers meet regularly with Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of issues. As has been the case with successive administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Wind Power

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many turbines of capacity of sub-15KW were installed in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Michael Fallon: The number of sub-15 kW wind turbines accredited under the feed-in tariff scheme during 2012 and 2013, were 1,747 and 327 respectively.
	Installations are grouped into years based on their ‘commissioning date’ i.e. the date the technology was physically installed and deemed to be up and running.

Wind Power: Manufacturing Industries

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many manufacturers of sub-15KW wind turbines are based in the UK; and what the value of exports from this sector was in 2013.

Michael Fallon: The Department does not hold this information.
	The renewables industry, including the small and medium wind manufacturers, is an important source of jobs and investment in the UK. In 2013, RenewableUK, the trade association for the onshore wind sector, reported that the UK is home to over 10 small and medium wind manufacturers and that nearly 3,800 sub-15 kW turbines were exported1.
	1 “R-UK Small and Medium Wind Market Report 2013” available at:
	http://www.renewableuk.com/en/publications/index.cfm/Small-and-Medium-Wind-UK-Market-Report-2013

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Bangladesh on locating the British national Mujibur Rahman Mujib after his disappearance on 4 May 2014.

Hugh Robertson: Our high commission in Dhaka raised the case of missing British National Mr Mujibur Rahman Mujib with the Government of Bangladesh on 7 May. We have urged the Bangladeshi authorities to do everything possible to locate Mr Mujib and his driver, to resolve the circumstances of their disappearance and to keep us informed of all developments in the case. Meanwhile, the British Government is providing consular support to Mr Mujib's family.

Burma

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what economic links there are with Burma; and what the value of (a) exports to and (b) imports from Burma was in the last year for which figures are available.

Hugo Swire: Building a sustainable economy in Burma, including increased responsible international investment, is key to economic growth, alleviating poverty, improving livelihoods and improving stability. As set out in the ‘UK Activities in Burma’ document published on 8 April alongside a written ministerial statement, the Government is working to encourage and support Burma to remove barriers to becoming a stable, prosperous and democratic country with a sustainable economy that benefits all its people and created a positive climate for domestic, international and UK trade and investment.
	We are active in several areas including:
	establishing a UK Trade and Investment office in Burma to provide practical support to British companies;
	establishing a UK Financial Services Task Force to support the development of sound financial structures and products;
	funding two specialist economists from the International Growth Centre to support the Myanmar Development Resource Institute in providing high quality advice to Government;
	providing £1.1 million to support Burma’s application to the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative which will help improve the transparency and accountability of the revenues from Burma’s natural resources;
	supporting work to strengthen Burma’s accountancy profession, to tackle financial crime and to increase local community involvement in investment decisions.
	UK exports of goods to Burma in 2013 were worth £44 million (a 243% year on year increase) and imports from Burma were worth £65 million (a 44% year on year increase). The top UK exports were transport equipment and road vehicles while the top imports were clothing.
	In 2012, the last year for which total goods and services figures are available, UK exports of goods and services to Burma were worth £20.8 million and imports from Burma were worth £46 million.

China

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Chinese authorities regarding reports that Christian communities in and around the City of Wenzhou are fearful following attacks on churches and threats made against other Christians.

Hugo Swire: We have continuing concerns about restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in China. We are aware of particular cases such as the demolition of Sanjiang church in Wenzhou and of raids on churches and threats made to Christians.
	We continue to raise our concerns publicly through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy and the quarterly updates to this. We also raise our concerns directly with Chinese officials. We next plan to do so during the forthcoming UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

Egypt

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pilay, on the imposition of the death penalty on 683 people in Egypt.

William Hague: The Government has discussed this issue with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and we share many of her concerns about the sentences. Mrs Pillay and I made statements on 28 and 29 April respectively expressing concern over the sentences, along with reports that some of the defendants may not have had adequate legal representation. It is the long-standing policy of the Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle.

Honduras

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the threat to human rights defenders and journalists in Honduras.

Hugo Swire: The Government attaches great importance to the support of human rights and democracy around the world. The human rights situation in Honduras is undoubtedly of concern, particularly in regard to human rights defenders and journalists, who have been known to face particular threats. The limited investigative capacity of judicial institutions in Honduras means it is often difficult to determine who is responsible for such crimes. However, Her Majesty’s ambassador to Honduras set out in a recent statement to mark Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the British Government is working to support the efforts of the Honduran Attorney-General’s Office and other institutions to tackle impunity human rights abuses, including crimes perpetrated against journalists and human rights defenders.

Honduras

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the President of Honduras about human rights abuses in Honduras.

Hugo Swire: The Government has consistently engaged with Honduran authorities on the issue of human rights. Soon after the new President of Honduras took office in January this year, representatives from the British embassy met senior Honduran officials, including the Attorney-General and the Commissioner for Human Rights. Our embassy has since continued this dialogue with the appropriate Honduran authorities, including raising specific cases highlighted by a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Most recently, Her Majesty’s ambassador wrote to the newly appointed Human Rights Ombudsman and the Attorney-General to highlight our ongoing human rights concerns. An official from the Crown Prosecution Service also travelled to Honduras in February to assess whether UK expertise can be used in support of EU work, to develop capacity in tackling impunity for human rights violations and abuses.

Iran

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Ministers had with the Iranian government on the imprisonment of (a) Rasoul Abdollahi, (b) Saeed Abedini, (c) Ebrahim Firozi, (d) Behmain Iranal, (e) Alireza Seyedin, (f) Maryam Naghash-Zargaran, (g) Farshid Fathi and (h) others imprisoned for their religious beliefs in Iran.

Hugh Robertson: We remain deeply concerned about the detention and treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called publicly for the Iranian Government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith. The UK’s non-resident Chargé d’Affaires raised the issue of freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March.

Iran

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the Iranian Government on the prosecution of people of the Baha’i faith.

Hugh Robertson: The UK has repeatedly expressed concern at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran, including the sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran to 20 years imprisonment and the regular harassment the community suffers from. We raised the treatment of Baha’is with the UN special rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014 and the UK’s non-resident chargé d’affaires discussed freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March. We will continue to call on the Iranian Government to ensure that all its citizens are able to exercise their right to freedom of religion, free from persecution and harassment.

Kenya

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of the involvement of the Somali group al-Shabaab in attacks in Kenya.

Mark Simmonds: Al-Shabaab issued public threats against Kenya following its military intervention in Somalia in 2011. A number of terrorist attacks in Kenya since then have been attributed to al-Shabaab, including the September 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping centre in which 67 people were killed. We are aware of the media reports that al-Shabaab were behind the recent attacks in Kenya.

Nigeria

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he has offered to the Nigerian authorities to resolve the continued abduction of girls from the North East of that country.

Mark Simmonds: In the days following the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria, we have offered our assistance to the highest levels of the Nigerian Government. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), spoke to the Nigerian Foreign Minister on 18 April immediately after the abductions and offered the UK’s assistance.
	On 7 May the Prime Minister spoke to President Jonathan and offered to send a team of UK experts to Abuja. The President accepted and the team, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), arrived in Abuja on 9 May. The team will provide expertise in counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, military mentoring and training, victim support and economic development. Human rights compliance is, and will remain, an essential element of any UK assistance in Nigeria. I visited Nigeria on 14 May, and reiterated our support with President Jonathan.
	We are co-ordinating closely with international partners. An FCO team was in Washington on 5 May for talks with the US on Nigeria. Our expert team in Abuja will be co-ordinating closely with a US team also in Abuja. We are also speaking to the French and are encouraging other EU partners to lend their support. Given Boko Haram’s exploitation of Nigeria’s porous borders and indications that some of the girls may have been taken to Cameroon or Chad, we are engaging with Nigeria’s neighbours.

Overseas Aid

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department, its executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies have funded or made contribution towards funding relating to nation branding development in any overseas state or territories in the last 10 years.

Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not directly funded any nation branding development in any overseas states or territories, nor have its executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies. The British Council does not directly fund nation branding but, through its work building trust for the UK internationally, through cultural and educational exchanges for example, it benefits both the UK’s and partner states’ national brands on a reciprocal basis. Information on any co-funded nation branding activities carried out overseas is not held centrally and to collate this would incur disproportionate cost. Activities funded or carried out by an overseas territory Government to promote its own territory is a matter of devolved responsibility.

Overseas Aid

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which nation branding consultancies have been funded or part-funded by his Department to work in overseas states and territories in the last 10 years; and what fees have been paid to each of those consultancies in each year since 2004.

Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not directly funded any nation branding consultancies to work in overseas states and territories. Information on any part funded nation branded consultancies working in overseas states and territories is not held centrally and to collate this would incur disproportionate cost.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has, however, previously paid subscription fees for the years 2009 to 2012 to Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, a US based market and consumer information organisation which provides an analytical ranking to help measure and manage national reputation. The subscription costs were: for 2012: £30,597.44; for 2011: £29,554.50; for 2010: £31,141.41 and for 2009: £33,960.81.

Qatar

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government has made to the Government of Qatar about working conditions for those constructing FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums.

Hugh Robertson: I raised concerns about migrant workers’ conditions with the Qatari authorities during my visit to Doha on 8-9 January. Our ambassador and other officials have raised the issue on previous occasions and will continue to do so.

Saudi Arabia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia concerning reports of the confinement of Saudi Arabian princesses in Jeddah;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with HM Ambassador to Saudi Arabia about reports of the confinement of Saudi Arabian princesses in Jeddah.

Hugh Robertson: The UK has long standing concerns about the restrictions on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. These concerns are clearly set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Human Rights Report, most recently updated in April 2014. Ministers and officials often raise women’s rights, including the guardianship system, with their Saudi Arabian counterparts, including at the UN and through EU representatives.

Sri Lanka

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka; what recent representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka about the arrest and detention of human rights defenders; and what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart about the use of that country's Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Hugo Swire: We continue to have serious concerns about respect for human rights in Sri Lanka, in particular continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and activists. We have consistently made clear to the Sri Lankan Government the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression and protecting human rights defenders, and continue to urge the Sri Lankan Government to uphold their international human rights obligations and to ensure that civil society, human rights defenders and activists are allowed the space to act freely.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights Report for 2013 and the quarterly updates to the report, which are available online, includes Sri Lanka as a ‘Country of Concern’ for human rights and outlines our assessment more fully.
	I made clear to the Sri Lankan Government following the arrest of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen—who have now been released—that it is important that human rights defenders are not subject to intimidation and have a right to freedom of expression. We are also aware of the arrests of Mrs Jeyakumari Balendran and others in Sri Lanka. Officials at our high commission in Colombo have raised concerns with the Sri Lankan Government, in particular on the lack of clarity around the evidence against the suspects and the charges brought.
	We have previously raised concerns with the Sri Lankan government about the length of time individuals can be detained without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. On 27 March, the UN Human Rights Council agreed a resolution which calls on the Sri Lankan government to make progress on human rights issues and to implement Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations, which includes the re-evaluation of detention policies.

Sri Lanka

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the government of Sri Lanka's decision to proscribe a number of Tamil groups and individuals for alleged links to terrorist activities and (b) the effect this will have on the reconciliation process.

Hugo Swire: I am concerned at reports that the Sri Lankan government has proscribed a number of individuals and Tamil organisations operating outside Sri Lanka. While we respect the right of the Sri Lankan government to take appropriate action against individuals and groups where there is clear evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities, our high commissioner to Sri Lanka has made clear to the Sri Lankan government that proscription should not be used to prevent or stifle the right to freedom of speech, particularly at a time when Sri Lanka’s human rights record is under international scrutiny. We believe that this development is not conducive to a successful reconciliation process and will continue to monitor developments closely.

Ukraine

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Ukraine's interim government about the $3.2 billion immediately released by the IMF as part of its support package.

William Hague: I discussed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package during my visit to Kyiv on 6-7 May, when I met Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia and the Head of the National Security and Defence Council. We are supportive of the IMF programme for Ukraine and welcome the Ukrainian government’s commitment to reform.

Vietnam

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department provides to non-governmental organisations working in Vietnam to combat child trafficking and to help repatriated victims of trafficking.

Hugo Swire: We currently fund a range of projects in Vietnam targeted at raising awareness of and combating modern slavery and human trafficking through victim reintegration programmes. There is a focus on alternative job creation for victims, and potential victims of trafficking.
	In particular, our British ambassador opened Compassion House in June 2013, a UK funded shelter in Lao Cai on the Chinese border for girls who have been trafficked. It is operated by the local government authorities in conjunction with a local non-governmental organisations, Pacific Links Foundation to provide life skills and vocational training.
	Our embassy also funds the “Capacity Building Activities for Victims of Gender-Based Violence” project which provides support for women and children in Vietnam who have suffered from gender-based violence and the effects of human trafficking.

Vietnam

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Vietnamese counterpart on preventing child trafficking from that country to the UK.

Hugo Swire: The UK has a highly co-operative relationship with the Vietnamese authorities to tackle human trafficking, including of minors, from Vietnam to the UK.
	Our embassy staff in Hanoi engage regularly with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, to facilitate visits to the UK to showcase the mechanisms we have in place. Later this month, high level officials from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will be visiting the UK Human Trafficking Centre of the National Crime Agency, the Home Office’s Modern Slavery Unit and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC’s) Child Trafficking Advice Centre and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve their understanding of the UK’s approach when working with victims of trafficking.
	Equally, the embassy has worked together with local authorities to open Compassion House in June 2013, a UK funded shelter in Lao Cai on the Chinese border for girls who have been trafficked.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to collate information on the (a) amount spent by local authorities on electoral registration, (b) number of staff employed by local authorities on electoral registration and (c) local authorities with the (i) highest and (ii) lowest levels of electoral registration.

Greg Clark: Following the transition to the individual electoral registration. The Electoral Commission aims to establish a model which can provide detailed information on financial spend by electoral registration officers and returning officers, and the activities the expenditure relates to, including the impact on performance.
	The Office for National Statistics already holds information on those local authorities with the highest and lowest levels of registration.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will consider the merits of ring-fencing funds allocated by his Office to local government for the purpose of voter registration. [Official Report, 3 July 2014, Vol. 583, c. 7MC.]

Greg Clark: Both the paper forms and the new online registration channel to be used under individual electoral registration have been designed to meet a wide range of accessibility needs. The Government has no current plans to commission such research, but the Electoral Commission is currently aiming to publish its assessment of registration rates under individual electoral registration in July 2016.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of the telephone to confirm continued entitlement to electoral registration; and which local authorities use telephones for that purpose.

Greg Clark: The Electoral Commission collates information on canvass responses (including responses by telephone) as part of its assessment of Electoral Registration Officers’ performance. This data can be found on their website at:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/performance-standards/performance-in-running-electoral-registration

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what comparative assessment he has made of the data matching levels of those electoral registration officers who (a) did and (b) did not use local government data matching in the individual electoral registration dry run.

Greg Clark: All 380 EROs in England, Wales and Scotland took part in the Confirmation Dry Run in 2013 which involved matching their electoral registers against data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. The average match rate was approximately 78%.
	Following this, 138 local authorities conducted data matching against locally held data sources, such as council tax records. On average, this increased these local authorities’ match rates by approximately 7%.
	The full evaluation of the Confirmation Dry Run, including local data matching activity, is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-confirming-electors-through-data-matching

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will extend the carryover of electors from household registration to individual registration from the general election 2015 to the freeze date for the next boundary review in December 2015.

Greg Clark: The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 provides for those who have not registered under (Individual Electoral Registration) to be ‘carried forward’ until December 2016, at which point they will be removed from the register if they have not made a successful application to register. The Act contains a provision that allows an order to be made in Parliament in the summer of 2015 that will conclude ‘carry forward’ in December 2015.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities who have failed one or more Electoral Commission performance indicators for electoral registration did not apply for the additional funding his Office has put in place.

Greg Clark: In 2013 five electoral registration officers (EROs) reported that they did not meet performance standard 3, relating to house-to-house inquiries:
	Mid Devon;
	Taunton Deane;
	Torridge;
	West Devon; and
	West Somerset.
	One ERO, Basildon, reported that they did not meet standard 1, relating to information sources.
	The Electoral Commission is in the process of carrying out a detailed analysis of EROs’ electoral registration data from the 2013 canvass, following which it will publish its final assessment of EROs’ performance in 2013.
	No authorities who failed one or more Electoral Commission performance indicators in financial year 2013-14 have applied for the additional funding.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 20 October 2011, Official Report, column 1099W, on electoral register, what proportion of pupils between the ages of 16 and 18 on the National Pupil Database were registered to vote in each year for which data is available.

Greg Clark: The information requested is not held centrally.
	The National Pupil Database does not include information on pupils' eligibility to be registered.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 344W, on electoral register: standards, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the proportion of post-primary schools and further education colleges visited by electoral administrators in all parts of the UK.

Greg Clark: The Government has no such plans. It recognises that electoral registration officers are best placed to determine what type of registration activity is likely to prove most effective at a local level.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 343W, on electoral register, what steps he has taken to ensure that aspects of good practice in Northern Ireland are adopted elsewhere in the UK.

Greg Clark: This Government has taken on board the lessons of the 2002 introduction of Individual Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland. A number of safeguards are in place for the transition that were not used in 2002. For example data matching will allow the vast majority of electors to automatically re-register and the transition is being phased over two years to allow those not yet individually registered to vote in the 2015 General Election.
	Funding has been made available to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain. Electoral registration officers have been encouraged to use this funding to support the delivery of the Rock Enrol! learning resource.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effect of levels of expenditure of electoral registration measures on levels of registration.

Greg Clark: The Government has made no recent assessment of the effect of levels of expenditure of electoral registration measures on levels of registration.
	The Government announced on 5 February 2014 that five national organisations and every local authority in Great Britain would be sharing £4.2 million funding aimed at maximising the rate of voter registration as part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration in 2014.
	They have been provided with guidance to support them in evaluating the success of activity delivered through this funding. Government will continue to work closely with all funding recipients in order to monitor the outcomes.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 6 June 2011, Official Report, columns 625-6W, on the electoral register, what assessment he has made of the effect of the ending of the Participation Fund on voter registration levels before the introduction of individual electoral registration.

Greg Clark: As part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, the Electoral Commission has been responsible for conducting research into the completeness and accuracy of the register. Their previous report, following the conclusion of the Participation Fund, can be found at:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/145366/Great-Britains-electoral-registers-2011.pdf
	The Electoral Commission will be publishing a further assessment of the completeness and accuracy of the register in summer 2014.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the compatibility of software used by local authorities for electoral registration and that used by (a) the Electoral Commission and (b) his own Department.

Greg Clark: In developing the digital service which supports the implementation of individual electoral registration (IER), the Government has ensured the compatibility of election management system (EMS) software used by local authorities and valuation joint boards with the mechanisms which will manage the transfer and matching of data. This has been achieved by developing an interface which standardises the communication of data between EMS software and the IER digital service. This has been fully and successfully tested.
	The Electoral Commission has no direct responsibility for the processing or determination of registration applications and therefore has no requirement to interact with the digital service.

Electoral Register: Learning Disability

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the proportion and number of voters with learning disabilities who (a) register to vote and (b) vote.

Greg Clark: The Government has made no such estimate.
	No record is made of disability when registering to vote or when voting.

Electoral Registration Officers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of electoral registration officers who have not fulfilled their statutory responsibilities in each of the last 10 years.

Greg Clark: The Government has made no such estimate.
	Since 2008, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been subject to performance standards set and monitored by the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission publishes its annual reports on ERO performance on its website.

Electoral Registration Officers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of how many and what proportion of electoral registration officers (EROs) conducted data matching activities for the purpose of improving individual electoral registration; and what steps he can take against EROs who did not conduct such data matching activities.

Greg Clark: As individual electoral registration (IER) will be introduced from 10 June 2014, an assessment has not yet been made.
	In line with current practice, once IER is in place, the performance of electoral registration officers (EROs) will be monitored through the performance standards of the Electoral Commission.

Electoral Registration Officers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to the answer of 20 July 2010, Official Report, column 298W, on electoral register, how many electoral registration officers have been convicted of an offence related to failure to take sufficient steps to register electors under section 9A of the Electoral Registration Act 2006.

Greg Clark: The Government is not aware of any electoral registration officer being convicted of an offence related to their statutory duty to take all reasonable steps to maintain the completeness and accuracy of the register.

Electoral Registration Officers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) central Government and (b) local government databases electoral registration officers may use in undertaking their registration functions.

Greg Clark: The introduction of individual electoral registration (IER) will require electoral registration officers (EROs) to confirm existing electors and verify all new applicants to register to vote against data held by the Department of Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. In addition, the Government is currently exploring using data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to further enhance the IER data matching processes as well as providing EROs with information which may help them identify unregistered eligible people.
	Under existing legislation EROs are entitled to inspect any data held by the local authority which appointed them, including data held by private companies acting on behalf of the authority, in order to check the validity of applications to register and to identify potential new electors. The data sources which are available to EROs will vary with some EROs appointed by unitary authorities having access to a greater range of data than those appointed by district councils; the Government has introduced secondary legislation to address this issue by allowing district councils to request data from their county council.

Official Hospitality

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been spent on hospitality by his Office in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Nicholas Clegg: The information requested is not held centrally.

Opinion Polls

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent by his Office on polling or public opinion research exercises in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; and what the purpose of polling was in each such case and what was polled.

Nicholas Clegg: My office has not commissioned polling or public opinion research.

Children: Databases

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information-sharing systems his Department recommends agencies to use in respect of sharing information regarding vulnerable children and children at risk.

Edward Timpson: The Government believes it is for local areas to determine the most appropriate way to record and share information to meet local needs.

Custody

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that fathers have appropriate access to or custody of their children following separation or divorce in cases where there is no risk to the child.

Edward Timpson: The Government recognises that a father’s role in his child’s life is a very important one and legislation in the Children and Families Act 2014 reflects the importance of children having a continuing relationship with both of their parents following family separation, as long as it is safe and in the child’s best interests.
	We are also strengthening the way in which breaches of child arrangement orders are handled. Cases which are breached within the first 12 months of an order being made will in future return to court quickly and, wherever possible, to the judge who made the original order. Courts will also be able to make full use of powers to direct a parent who is in breach of an order to participate in an activity, for example a parenting programme, to address their behaviour.

Financial Services: Curriculum

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to include financial capability education in the national curriculum; and what guidance his Department has issued on such education.

Elizabeth Truss: The new mathematics curriculum will ensure that all young people leave school with an understanding of the mathematics skills needed for personal finance.
	For the first time financial literacy will also be a compulsory part of citizenship for 11 to 16-year-olds from September 2014. Pupils will learn the importance of budgeting, sound management of money, credit and debt, as well as understanding of different financial services and products.
	The new programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship make it clear what pupils should learn, including developing their use of formal mathematical knowledge to interpret and solve problems including financial mathematics.

Free Schools

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to give free schools more flexibility on requirements relating to (a) the involvement of volunteers and (b) provision of flexi-school places.

Edward Timpson: Volunteers in free schools, like maintained schools, can work alongside paid staff members to offer a range of skills and experience that can enhance pupils’ learning. We encourage skilled members of the community to take up a range of voluntary roles in schools from being governors to listening to children read. The Government has reformed child protection policies to remove bureaucracy and enable managers to use their judgment about the checks and supervision required for each individual depending on their circumstances.
	The free school programme encourages innovation and the decision to offer flexi-school places or how to deploy volunteers is one for individual head teachers. However, the free school criteria requires all applicants to meet rigorous standards including demonstrating how they would ensure a high quality education for every pupil and outlining a sustainable staffing structure.

Local Safeguarding Children Boards

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding his Department provides for Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

Edward Timpson: Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) are funded by contributions from the local authority, primary care trust, police and other agencies, with the largest contribution coming from the local authority. It is important that agencies work together to agree budgets locally and prioritise spending in response to local needs and issues.
	The Department for Education provided the Association of Independent LSCB Chairs with funding of £240,000 between September 2012 and March 2014 to support the leadership of LSCBs in ensuring the effectiveness of local safeguarding arrangements. We will provide them with a further £130,000 in this financial year as they move towards self-sustainability.

Respite Care

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not directly fund organisations to deliver short breaks and respite services for disadvantaged children, young people and their families; this is done at the local authority level.
	In the case of disabled children and young people however, the Department for Education has made available to local authorities £800 million to invest in short breaks services between April 2011 and March 2015, through unringfenced grants. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, an additional £40 million of capital funding per annum was made available to local authorities to invest in short breaks equipment and infrastructure, also in unringfenced grants. It has been for local authorities to decide how to use this funding to provide the short breaks provision for disabled children that is needed locally and to support access to it.
	While the Department does not directly fund providers of short breaks for disabled children, it has funded a number of organisations over the last five financial years to help increase access to such provision and to improve its quality.
	A table setting out details of the funding has been placed in the House Library.

Sixth Form Education

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when his Department will publish guidance for sixth form colleges that wish to convert to become 16 to 19 academies.

Edward Timpson: Sixth-form colleges are classified as private sector institutions and already benefit from the freedoms that academies enjoy. For this reason, the Department for Education has no plans to publish guidance for sixth-form colleges that wish to convert to become 16 to 19 academies.

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the recent study by City University, London and the Nuffield Foundation of deaf children in the education system; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has not made an assessment of the recent study by City University, London and the Nuffield Foundation of deaf children in the education system. The study helpfully considers ways and strategies to assist teachers identify reading problems and dyslexia for deaf children. It is for schools and professionals working with deaf children to consider the significance of the findings and how it informs their practice in identifying and supporting children with hearing loss.
	Through the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government aims to improve support for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) including deaf children. It also includes support for teachers and other school staff to gain the knowledge and skills to support pupils with SEN and disabilities.
	The new SEND Code of Practice due to come into force in September, will set out clear guidance for schools on the process for appropriate identification, assessment, monitoring and securing further support for all children and young people with SEN and disabilities including those with sensory impairments.

Civil Servants: Pay

Christopher Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on what basis the Government calculates entitlement to holiday pay for civil servants.

Francis Maude: This is a matter delegated to individual Civil Service Departments and agencies under the Civil Service Management Code (CSMC).

Credit Unions

Mike Kane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which government departments offer payroll deduction for staff wishing to save with a credit union.

Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 65W.

ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how much was spent on providing (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers, (c) senior civil servants and (d) all other officials in his Department with (i) iPhones and (ii) iPads in (A) 2012-13 and (B) 2013-14;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of (a) digital and (b) Agile skill in (i) his Department and (ii) other Government departments; and if he will make it his policy to report on digital skills in departmental reporting plans;
	(3)  how much was spent maintaining his Department's official website in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14;
	(4)  how much has been spent on the Digital Services Framework in each month to date; and what proportion of such spending was with small and medium-sized enterprises;
	(5)  how many Agile coach positions there are in his Department; and how many such posts are filled by (a) permanent and (b) contract staff.

Nick Hurd: At the time of the last general election this country was spending more than almost any other country in the developed world on ICT but the quality of the services and technology offered to civil servants and to the public was hardly impressive. Departments were—and in many cases are—burdened with legacy IT equipment which is not appropriate for a modern workplace. In addition there was a long-standing shortage of digital skills.
	After the general election, the Cabinet Office launched the new Government Digital Service to support Departments in digitising public services and to redesign our online offering to the public.
	Prior to August 2010, £27,000 was spent on hosting the Cabinet Office site (as well as other agency sites). In August of that year, we switched to using cloud-based services. For 2012-13, £2,623 was spent maintaining the Cabinet Office website. In February 2013 Cabinet Office joined gov.uk. The creation of gov.uk saved £42 million in 2012-13 and £50 million estimated savings for 2013-14 for gov.uk from closing down Directgov and BusinessLink.
	The Capabilities Plan, which is refreshed annually, reports on digital skills across the civil service. The Cabinet Office publishes Quarterly Progress Reports against the Government Digital Strategy which covers digital capability, as does the Government Digital Strategy 2013 Annual Report. All of these are readily available online.
	Prior to 2010 agile methods were not required. The Government Digital by Default Service Standard requires new or redesigned digital services to be developed using agile methods. Compliance is ensured through cross-Government IT spending controls. Prior to the last general election there was no-cross Government IT spending controls. These helped saved £500 million for taxpayers in 2012-13 alone, contributing to an unprecedented £10 billion of efficiency savings in that year. All of this could have been initiated prior to 2010. There are currently five agile coach positions in Cabinet Office.
	Prior to the last general election there was no central monitoring of spend with SMEs. Various bureaucratic procurement practices mitigated against SMEs and resulted in a playing field which was biased against SMEs. The Digital Services framework went live in November 2013. 83% of the suppliers are SMEs. Of the nine competitions so far awarded five have gone to SMEs—this is 30% by value.
	Under an IT contract signed in 2009, Cabinet Office staff IT costs around £7,000 per user per annum. We want staff to have IT equipment which actually suits their needs to allow everyone to work effectively and drive up productivity. As part of that we will consider giving staff equipment including tablets and mobile devices when there is an appropriate business need. For further details I refer the hon. Member to HC Deb, 7 March 2013, c1140W.

Job Creation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new jobs have been created in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013 in (i) Barnsley central constituency, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) England.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new jobs have been created in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013 in (i) Barnsley central constituency, (ii) Yorkshire and The Humber and (iii) England. (198130)
	Information regarding the number of new jobs created is not available. As an alternative, estimates relating to the net changes in the number of people in employment have been provided. The ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics for areas below the UK following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions using the Annual Population Survey (APS).
	Table 1 shows the number and net change of people in employment resident in the requested geographies. These estimates are compiled from APS interviews held during the period January 2013 to December 2013 and the 12 month periods ending in December in each year since 2010.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the table.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of people in employment and change on previous period 
			 Thousand 
			  Barnsley Central Yorkshire and the Humber England 
			 12 months ending December: Level Change on year Level Change on year Level Change on year 
			 2010 36 — 2,407 — 24,303 — 
			 2011 36 0 2,396 -12 24,392 88 
			 2012 37 1 2,442 47 24,712 321 
			 20131 ***37 0 *2,485 43 *25,093 381 
			 1 Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality following. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≤ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Population Survey

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Simon Kirby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many quangos have been abolished since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The Government has already reduced the number of public bodies by over 280. 185 bodies have been abolished.
	This is the largest restructuring of public bodies in a generation, making the landscape smaller, more accountable and transparent, and offering better value for money to the public.

Visual Impairment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance his Department has given across government on steps to improve communications with the visually impaired.

Nick Hurd: I refer the hon. Member to the Office for Disability Issues’ publication, Fulfilling Potential. The Cabinet Office’s Government Digital Service is working with Departments to digitise public services. Our Assisted Digital approach will ensure that these services serve the needs of all users, including people with a visual impairment.

Al-Sweady Public Inquiry

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence What estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the Al-Sweady public inquiry.

Philip Hammond: The Al-Sweady Inquiry has cost the public purse £28.4 million to 31 March 2014. The potential cost of the Inquiry to its completion is £31.1 million.
	This includes costs for inquiry personnel, all legal and professional services, including paralegals, legal investigators, translation services, costs of the Inquiry hearing rooms and associated utilities, IT, and expenses incurred in obtaining witness evidence.

Afghanistan

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funds from the defence budget are allocated for mental healthcare for veterans returning from Afghanistan.

Anna Soubry: Mental health care and support is provided for all serving armed forces personnel, both regulars and reserve, and resources are not specifically designated for a particular operation. Because of the many ways in which mental health care is provided and funded, it is not possible to provide a cost figure that covers all the numerous care streams, which may include treatment by GPs in primary care facilities, out-patient treatment in military Departments of Community Mental Health, and in-patient care in specialist NHS units.
	Responsibility for the delivery of health care to ex-service personnel rests with the NHS and devolved Administrations. As part of the Government’s 2011 mental health strategy, No Health Without Mental Health, over £7 million in additional funding has been made available over four years to help ensure that ex-service personnel with mental health problems also get the very best care.

Armed Forces

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for his department's policies of the findings of The Armed Forces & Society survey produced by Lord Ashcroft.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence was grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Ashcroft for conducting what proved to be a very useful survey of the attitudes of the public and the armed forces towards each other. While there were many positive findings, of particular concern was the perception among a majority of the public that veterans would have physical or mental problems as a result of service. Lord Ashcroft described this as ‘not only untrue, but damaging'.
	The 2012 survey provided valuable insight into the relationship between the armed forces and the nation they serve. This relationship is at the heart of the Armed Forces Covenant, which we published in May 2011. A great deal has been achieved through this mechanism in the last few years across a wide range of areas, including health care, accommodation, education, and welfare.
	We will go on looking at what more we can do for our armed forces, their families, and Veterans, to ensure that they continue to receive the recognition they deserve, and if necessary, whatever help they may require.

Armed Forces Covenant

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide details of the projects supported by the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund since its inception; and how much funding has been given to each of those projects.

Anna Soubry: The £35 million LIBOR fund has now closed with the majority of the money being allocated in support of a total of 97 projects. A copy of the document detailing those projects and the funding they have received is as follows. A small sum is being held back for contingency purposes.
	Armed Forces Covenant LIBOR Fund—Successful projects
	The importance of the covenant to the Government was highlighted by the decision of the Chancellor to transfer £35 million from fines levied on the banks for attempting to manipulate LIBOR to the MOD for use in supporting the armed forces community.
	The aim of the fund is to support the two principles of the armed forces covenant:
	that members of the armed forces community should not face disadvantage in comparison to other citizens;
	that special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
	Over three tranches of Libor funding 97 successful projects have received a total of nearly £35 million to support their work. A summary of the successful bids can be found in this spreadsheet.
	
		
			 LIBOR fund value £35,000,000.00 Number of projects Number of unique orgs 
			 Tranche One agreed bids £7,229,900.00 16 12 
			 Tranche Two agreed bids £15,539,869.53 57 54 
			 Tranche Three agreed bids £12,083,910.89 24 21 
			 Total spend £34,853,680.42 97 81

Bomb Disposal: Shoeburyness

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that East Beach in Shoeburyness is surveyed for any unexploded ordnance and that remedial works are carried out as a matter of urgency;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of (a) the economic effect on and (b) changes in tourism revenue in Southend as a result of the closure of East Beach in Shoeburyness for his Department to survey for unexploded ordnance;
	(3)  what the timescale is for his Department to (a) survey East Beach in Shoeburyness for unexploded ordnance and (b) carry out remedial works;
	(4)  how long his Department expects East Beach in Shoeburyness to be closed.

Anna Soubry: East Beach is managed by Southend-on-Sea borough council under a licence agreement with the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The decision to close the beach was made by the council and it will be for them to determine when to re-open it. As such, no estimates have been made by the MOD about the economic effect of the Council’s decision to the local economy.
	A MOD survey of East Beach will assist in the formulation of a risk management plan that will focus mitigation work on those areas of the beach at greatest risk. It is too early to say what mitigation work will be required, when it will be carried out, and how long it will take to complete.

Chief of Defence Materiel

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the current contract for the post of Chief of Defence Materiel ends; and if he will make it his policy that the post of Chief Executive of Defence Equipment and Support be no longer merged with this post at that time.

Philip Dunne: The post of Chief Defence Materiel has been merged with that of Chief Executive of Defence Equipment and Support and therefore no longer exists as a separate post. A competition will be held for the Chief Executive of Defence Equipment and Support in late 2014 in time for the current incumbent's contract end date on 3 January 2015.

Defence Equipment and Support

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to question 187339 of 11 February 2014, where each vacancy is located; and what the role of each position is.

Philip Dunne: Safety-Critical posts are fielded across the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation in a number of areas. The role of these posts is defined in DE&S policy as having specified safety-related, decision-making responsibilities and accountabilities, and must be filled by people competent to make such decisions. Should a post become vacant, priority is given to recruitment action. Until the vacancy is filled, the post responsibilities are either transferred to other competent people or, to ensure safety, related activities cease.
	Safety-Critical post data is reviewed on a monthly basis and as at 1 April 2014 there were 97 vacant Safety-Critical posts in DE&S out of a total of 1,321. The number of Safety-Critical posts and vacancies will change regularly to reflect project requirements and as the result of staff turnover. Current vacancies are located as follows:
	
		
			 DE&S organisational domain DE&S operating centre Total number of Safety-Critical posts Number of vacant Safety-Critical posts 
			 Maritime Ships 210 11 
			  Subs 156 6 
			  Naval Authority Group 47 9 
			     
			 Air Air Support 199 20 
			  Combat Air 216 16 
			     
			 Land Land Equipment 114 6 
			  Weapons 154 12 
			  Joint Support Chain/Inventory Management 13 1 
			  Logistics Commodities and Services 14 1 
			     
			 Joint Helicopters 161 11 
			  ISTAR 29 3 
			     
			 Corporate HR 3 0 
			  Tech 4 0 
			  Finance 1 1 
			 Total  1,321 97

Employment Agencies

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence uses a process called “manpower substitution” to engage temporary staff at agreed fixed rates on a national basis through a number of contracts. Manpower substitutes are employed for up to 11 months to fill vacant, funded posts. The majority are brought in to fill medical and dental requirements at military medical centres to cover for military positions that are vacant due to deployment into operational theatre. This enables the medical services to continue to provide the best possible care to members of the armed forces.
	The five companies most frequently used by the Ministry of Defence in financial year 2013-14 to provide temporary workers, and the associated fees paid to each, are presented in the following table:
	
		
			 Company Type of worker Number of Temporary Workers Fees Paid (£ million) 
			 HoneyBee Medical and Dental 790 3.46 
			 CastleRock Ltd Medical and Dental 490 2.61 
			 Capita Resourcing Interim Professionals 320 2.07 
			 Hayes Medical and Dental 190 0.59 
			 Reed Clerical and Admin 160 0.11 
		
	
	The figures provided for Capita Resourcing cover the period from April 2013 to March 2014. All other data cover the period April 2013 to February 2014. Data are extracted from the MOD’s centralised Manpower Substitution Service database and does not include any localised arrangements that individual Top Level Budget holders may have with other companies.

Joint Forces Command

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current establishment is of Joint Force Command.

Anna Soubry: There are around 11,000 members of the armed forces and around 7,150 UK based civil servants and locally employed civilians in Joint Forces Command.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who authorises the public release of photographs of aircraft that are intercepted during Quick Reaction Alert flights.

Mark Francois: Photographs are routinely taken during Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions. There is strong public and media interest in the RAF Quick Reaction Alert deterrent capability. MOD policy is to release a limited amount of non-sensitive information on QRA launches, sometimes including photographs. This provides the public with strong examples of how the RAF is able to respond to this kind of incident. It also provides public awareness of the RAF’s ability to defend the UK through the effectiveness of its air defences and to maintain the full deterrence value of the QRA mission. Media inquiries regarding QRA launches also often include requests for photographs.
	Consequently, RAF Operations Staffs in coordination with MOD officials, including the MOD Directorate of Media and Communications, will occasionally consider these photographs for public release.
	Photographs of a recent QRA mission were released on 25 April 2014. The previous release of photographs of intercepted aircraft from a recent mission was in March 2010; additionally for other QRA information releases in the last three years, MOD have utilised stock images from the Defence Image Library.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions (a) photographs have been taken of intercepted aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert flights and (b) such photographs have been released to the public in each of the last three years.

Mark Francois: Photographs are routinely taken during Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions. There is strong public and media interest in the RAF Quick Reaction Alert deterrent capability. MOD policy is to release a limited amount of non-sensitive information on QRA launches, sometimes including photographs. This provides the public with strong examples of how the RAF is able to respond to this kind of incident. It also provides public awareness of the RAF’s ability to defend the UK through the effectiveness of its air defences and to maintain the full deterrence value of the QRA mission. Media enquiries regarding QRA launches also often include requests for photographs.
	Consequently, RAF Operations Staffs in coordination with MOD officials, including the MOD Directorate of Media and Communications, will occasionally consider these photographs for public release.
	Photographs of a recent QRA mission were released on 25 April 2014. The previous release of photographs of intercepted aircraft from a recent mission was in March 2010; additionally for other QRA information releases in the last three years, MOD have utilised stock images from the Defence Image Library.

Nuclear Reactors

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many nuclear-qualified Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel have been required by his Department in each of the last three years; and how many such posts were vacant in each such year in each location.

Philip Dunne: The following tables summarise the number of civilian nuclear suitably qualified and experienced personnel (NSQEP) posts and the number of NSQEP vacancies by location:
	
		
			 Number 
			  2011-12 (as at 31 March 2012) 2012-13 (as at 31 March 2013) 2013-14 (as at 31 March 2014) 
			 Requirement for NSQEP personnel 532 532 562 
			 Number of vacant NSQEP posts 29 53 70 
			     
			 Location of vacant posts    
			 Abbey Wood, Bristol 21 48 63 
			 Clyde 3 2 2 
			 Portsmouth 1 0 1 
			 Devonport, Plymouth 3 2 3 
		
	
	
		
			 Barrow-in-Furness 1 1 1 
		
	
	A recruitment programme has recently been undertaken to fill the existing vacancies, most of which fall within the level 1 (awareness) category, and posts are now being filled. None of the existing vacancies are in posts categorised as safety critical, and the vacancies have not impacted upon the Department’s ability to deliver the Defence Nuclear Programme safely.
	The following table summarises the number of military nuclear suitably qualified and experienced personnel (NSQEP) posts and the number of NSQEP vacancies by location:
	
		
			 Number 
			  2011-12 (as at 1 January 2012) 2012-13 (as at 1 February 2013) 2013-14 (as at 1 February 2014) 
			  Officers Ratings Officers Ratings Officers Ratings 
			 Requirement for NSQEP personnel 266 856 238 808 244 804 
			 Number of vacant NSQEP posts 19 105 12 68 16 79 
			        
			 Location of vacant posts       
			 Abbey Wood, Bristol 7 1 1 0 4 0 
			 Clyde 1 41 1 20 2 22 
			 Portsmouth 0 8 0 1 0 3 
			 Devonport, Plymouth 1 7 1 2 1 2 
			 London 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Barrow-in-Furness 0 2 0 3 1 0 
			 Sea—Disposal 3 13 0 8 1 2 
			 Sea—Sea Training 3 0 1 2 2 0 
			 Sea—Build and Upkeep 1 6 1 0 0 6 
			 Sea—SSN and SSBN (Upkeep) 2 3 2 9 4 10 
			 Sea—Platform 1 24 5 23 1 34 
		
	
	None of the existing vacancies are in posts categorised safety critical. No submarine would go to sea without the required complement of NSQEP, and the vacancies have not impacted upon the Department’s ability to deliver the Defence Nuclear Programme safely.

War Pensions: Mesothelioma

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been awarded a war disablement pension for mesothelioma since 1996.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 May 2014, Official Report, columns 165-166W. The Ministry of Defence are unable to provide the number of individuals awarded a War Disablement Pension (WDP) for Mesothelioma since 1996 in the time scale requested. However, as at 31 March 2013, 50 individuals were in receipt of a WDP for a recorded condition of Mesothelioma.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answers of 12 March 2014, Official Report, column 238W, on abortion, and 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 31W, on abortion, if he will make it his policy that his Department collects data on the number of (a) neonatal deaths following a legal termination of pregnancy, (b) foetuses that show signs of life following an attempted termination and (c) such foetuses registered as live births; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Department has no plans to collect this data.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will bring forward proposals for regulations to ensure that ME and chronic fatigue syndrome are included in all pre- and post-registration training of (a) GPs and (b) other health care professionals;
	(2)  what steps his Department plans to take to improve information and support for GPs regarding ME or chronic fatigue syndrome; and if he will take steps to improve access to specialist services for people with those conditions.

Norman Lamb: In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced the clinical guidance, ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children’. This guidance set out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment care and support of children and adults with CFS/ME. Information on CFS/ME diagnosis and treatment can also be accessed via the NHS Evidence and NICE Clinical Knowledge summaries websites.
	The content and standard of health care professional training is the responsibility of regulators, such as the General Medical Council, which are independent statutory bodies. They have the general function of promoting high standards of education, working with the Royal Colleges, and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that students and newly-qualified professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
	The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and work force development in the national health service. HEE is responsible for ensuring that the future work force has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet patients’ needs today and tomorrow, and will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.

Community Hospitals

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the future of community hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: A search of the Department’s ministerial correspondence database has identified no recent representations on the future of community hospitals. This Government believes the national health service should improve discharge from acute hospitals and increase access to care and treatment in the community.

Health Professions: Regulation

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the Law Commission's draft bill on the regulation of health and social care professionals.

Daniel Poulter: The Department worked closely with the Law Commission on its review of legislation governing regulation of health care professionals and after almost three years of review, consultation and development the Law Commission published its recommendations, along with a draft Bill on 2 April 2014.
	This work will help us make sure the system is fit for the future and continues to protect patients. The Department is considering the Law Commission’s proposals with great interest and is working closely with the regulatory bodies and the Professional Standards Authority to inform our response to the Law Commission, which we will publish in due course.

Health Professions: Regulation

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the inclusion of a bill on modernisation of the regulation of nurses and midwives in the Queen's Speech.

Daniel Poulter: We have not received representations on the inclusion of a Bill on modernisation of the regulation of nurses and midwives. However, the Department has received representations on taking forward the Law Commission’s work from a number of organisations, including:
	professional regulatory bodies;
	patient safety groups;
	the Professional Standards Authority; and
	medical professional associations.

Heart Diseases: Young People

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to raise awareness of the conditions that can lead to young sudden cardiac death and sudden death syndrome.

Jane Ellison: The UK National Screening Committee advises Ministers and the national health service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. It is currently reviewing the evidence for screening young people between the ages of 12 to 39 years for the major causes of sudden cardiac death. A public consultation will open shortly.
	NHS England is working with the Chief Coroner to discuss what the coronial system can do to help reduce sudden cardiac death in the young. As a result, the Chief Coroner has written to local Coroners asking them to make families of those who have died of the condition aware that it may be inherited, and encouraging them to contact either the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, or their general practitioner for testing and counselling.

Hepatitis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the implementation plan for the elimination of Hepatitis C will be published.

Jane Ellison: On 28 April 2014 the Department of Health published ‘Living Well for Longer: National Support for Local Action to Reduce Premature Avoidable Mortality’, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. This document sets out what Public Health England, NHS England, the Department and others will do at a national level towards meeting the Secretary of State’s ambition to reduce premature mortality in five key areas, including liver disease. Hepatitis C is identified as one of the main contributory factors for the increasing rates of liver disease in England.

Lyme Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of lyme-disease have been diagnosed in humans in the last three years.

Jane Ellison: There were 959 laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales in 2011. The number of positive tests in 2012 was 998, and in 2013 1,200, although these data have not yet been disaggregated to exclude repeat tests on the same patients. Most cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed clinically by general practitioners and the numbers are not recorded, but there are probably around 3,000 cases of clinically apparent disease each year in the United Kingdom. The disease occurs over the whole of the country, but is more prevalent in some areas including the New Forest, Thetford, the Lake District and Scottish Highlands. Approximately 20% of cases confirmed by laboratory testing were acquired abroad. Lyme disease is considerably more common in parts of the United States of America and Northern and Central Europe than in the UK, and tourists to rural areas are at risk.

Medical Treatments: Lasers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have received NHS laser treatment to remove scars and marks on their thighs and stomach in the last year.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not available in the format requested as it is not possible to identify laser procedures to remove marks from the stomach or thighs with the current coding definitions.
	In the following table, we have provided the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)1 for patients with a primary diagnosis2 of a type of scar condition to the skin who have undergone a laser removal procedure3 to the anterior trunk or leg for 2012-13.
	It should be noted that this data should not be described as a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on one or more occasion.
	
		
			  Laser removal lesion of skin from anterior trunk or leg 
			 2012-13 24 
			 Activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Notes: 1 A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 2 The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. 3 The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and four prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in an HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Mental Health Services

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that resources for mental health services meet the requirements of both adults and children.

Norman Lamb: Mental health and well-being, for both adults and children, is a priority for this Government. Our overarching goal is to ensure that mental health has equal priority with physical health, and that everyone who needs it has timely access to the best available treatment. We have enshrined in law the equal status of mental and physical health in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
	The Mandate to NHS England makes clear that ‘everyone who needs it should have timely access to evidence based services’. This will involve extending and ensuring more open access to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme, in particular for children and young people, and for those out of work.
	We are also committed to introducing access and/or waiting time standards for mental health. The revised Mandate asks NHS England to develop and evaluate a range of costed options to implement access and waiting standards for mental health services starting from April 2015, with a phased introduction depending on affordability.
	We will hold the national health service to account for the quality of services and outcomes for mental health patients through the NHS Outcomes Framework. Improvements for people with mental health problems will also be a crucial element of success across the framework as a whole.
	Our action plan, ‘Closing the Gap’, which was launched in January 2014, sets our priorities for action and progress in mental health services over the next couple of years, including actions supporting commissioners in allocating resources.
	We are setting up a new, national Mental Health Intelligence Network to provide comprehensive, up to date information about mental health and well-being, mental health problems and what the most pressing needs are in each area—which will support commissioning of services.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2014, Official Report, column 364W, on mental health services, when the guidance and Choice Framework which he referred to will be published.

Norman Lamb: The Department published the NHS Choice Framework 2014 on 1 April 2014. A copy has been placed in the Library.
	The Department has been working with NHS England and other partners and stakeholders to develop supporting guidance for the national health service. A consultation on this will commence shortly and final guidance will be published in the summer.
	The Department and NHS England will continue to work with partners and stakeholders to ensure that the extended rights to choice in mental health are fully embedded by 2015 as set out in the NHS Mandate.

NHS England

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that redundancies and constraints on spending in NHS England do not adversely affect the quality of services provided;
	(2)  what the cost is of redundancies made by NHS England since January 2013; and what proportion of total expenditure that figure represents;
	(3)  what recent discussions he has had with senior management of NHS England about redundancies.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health meets regularly with NHS England to discuss a wide variety of issues. The Department is clear on the need to ensure that redundancy payments are made only in circumstances where it is appropriate to do so and has been working with NHS England to ensure that payments are tightly controlled, whilst meeting contractual obligations.
	Redundancies are subject to rigorous scrutiny and challenge before being approved. Additionally, any individual redundancy compensation payment in excess of £100,000 also requires departmental approval. Where redundancies do occur, NHS England ensures that these are formally subject to national NHS provisions to claw back any redundancy payment received where an individual then goes on to be re-employed within the national health service, further ensuring better value for the tax payer.
	NHS England takes seriously its responsibilities to ensure that redundancy is a last resort and has implemented a system to seek to re-deploy any staff affected by such change to retain knowledge, skills and capability within the organisation, where at all possible.
	NHS England has a responsibility for ensuring that maximum value for money for taxpayers is delivered, while seeking to improve health outcomes for patients through effective commissioning arrangements. As a direct employer of 6,000 people, NHS England has a responsibility to continually improve the way it delivers both commissioning and the provision of the services for which it is directly accountable, which includes the regular review of its work force arrangements.
	NHS England has advised that its redundancy costs for 2012-13 were £54,000, which represented 0.1% of total expenditure. For 2013-14 the costs were £1,017,000, which represented 0.003% of total expenditure.

NHS England

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide a breakdown of the transition costs in NHS England's January finance report.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England’s Financial Performance Report, which was included in the papers for its January Board meeting, gave a planned reserves/transition costs spend for 2013-14 of £110,600,000 in a table showing running costs at November 2013. NHS England has provided a breakdown shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Transition-Estates Void Costs 35,000,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Transition-Primary Care Services Restructuring 35,000,000 
			 Corporate Reserves and Contingency 40,600,000 
			 Total 110,600,000 
		
	
	The forecast figure of £91,000,000 for reserves/transition costs shown in the report was arrived at due to an anticipated underspend against the Primary Care Services Restructuring budget, based on forecast information from business plans for the project.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what figures he holds on the life expectancy of men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

Jane Ellison: The Government’s mandate to NHS England sets out an ambition to make England one of the most successful countries in Europe at preventing premature deaths from all cancers, including prostate cancer.
	Cancer indicators in the NHS outcomes framework and the public health outcomes framework will help NHS England to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for men with prostate cancer.
	Data related to men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer is not collected to permit the calculation of a reliable figure for average life expectancy.
	However, Cancer Research UK has estimated that men with advanced, incurable prostate cancer treated in trials or under drug access schemes at the Royal Marsden hospital survived on average 41 months, compared to between 13 and 16 months 10 years ago.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when NHS England began its review into the future of stereotactic radiosurgery; and when its plans to complete the review;
	(2)  with reference to section 2 of the guidance issued by Monitor on the Commissioning of Radiosurgery Services on 4 April 2014, if he will request that NHS England reinstates the commissioning of stereotactic radiotherapy to the level before 1 April 2013 while it conducts its review into the future use of this treatment;
	(3)  if he will publish (a) a list of all stakeholders who have so far been consulted by NHS England as part of its review into stereotactic radiosurgery and (b) the responses from those stakeholders.

Jane Ellison: All existing contracts for stereotactic radiotherapy services were transferred to NHS England on 1 April 2013 and it continues to commission against these contracts, as previously.
	NHS England commenced the review of stereotactic radiosurgery in August 2013 and expects a final report to be considered at its specialised commissioning oversight group, post a public consultation period, in October 2014.
	NHS England will consult with the public, patients and professionals and take account of those views when taking a final decision. A summary of the responses received will be included when publishing the final report post the consultation period.

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland to discuss recent developments in South Tees NHS Foundation Trust.

Daniel Poulter: The hon. Member has had these issues debated in the House on more than one occasion, most recently at a Westminster Hall Debate on 5 November 2013. He has also had several meetings with Ministers.
	The national health service (NHS) regulator, Monitor, is continuing to investigate the South Tees NHS Foundation Trust and the results of its investigation will be published in due course.

Standardised Packaging for Tobacco Independent Review

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, column 471W, on Standardised Packaging for Tobacco Independent Review, 
	(1)  what fees were paid to King's College for hosting the Review team;
	(2)  if he will provide a further breakdown of each item of expenditure under each of the budget headings provided; if he will publish receipts for expenditure incurred; what the agreed budget was in advance of the Review; and what locations were travelled to as part of the Review.

Jane Ellison: A final breakdown of expenditure will be made public when complete on the Review’s webpage:
	www.kcl.ac.uk/health/packaging-review.aspx
	There was no agreed budget in advance of the Review but an estimate of £177,000 was made for planning purposes. Sir Cyril had control of his own budget, as outlined in the Terms of Reference, and expenditure was passed to the Department and approved in the normal way.
	Sir Cyril travelled to Australia in March 2014, and attended meetings in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Further details of those meetings are available on the Review’s webpage.

Standardised Packaging for Tobacco Independent Review

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish in full the economic analysis on price and illicit trade analysis conducted as part of the Standardised Packaging for Tobacco Independent Review.

Jane Ellison: The Department understands that Section 5 and Annex C of Sir Cyril's report constitute the full and final economic analysis on price and illicit trade analysis conducted as part of the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Independent Review.

Tobacco: EU Law

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what cross-departmental government scrutiny will take place of the forthcoming Implementing and Delegated Acts of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

Jane Ellison: During the negotiations on the revised Tobacco Products Directive, the Government sought to ensure that any delegation of powers to the European Commission, to propose further rules, was limited, appropriate and well defined. The Government's proposed negotiating position on any Implementing and Delegated Acts put forward by the Commission will be subject to the normal cross government clearance and scrutiny procedures.

Asylum: Syria

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees from Syria have applied for leave to remain since the start of the Syrian conflict; and how many such people have been granted leave to remain.

James Brokenshire: The published available figures relate only to asylum seekers.
	The latest published Home Office data shows that between 1 April 2011 and 31 December 2013 there were 3,796 applications for asylum from Syrian nationals (including main applicants and their dependants) in the UK. During the same period, 2,507 Syrian nationals and dependants were granted leave to remain in the UK, including asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave. These grant decisions do not all necessarily relate to applications made in the same period. In addition, given the need to give each asylum claim careful consideration on its merits, not all the asylum applications made during that period will have received a decision during that time.
	Eurostat data based on provisional management information shows that between 1 April 2011 and 28 February 2014 there were 4,105 applications for asylum from Syrian nationals (including main applicants and their dependants) in the UK. Eurostat data on grants of asylum are only available annually. There are some definitional differences between National Statistics published by the Home Office on a quarterly basis and monthly figures published by Eurostat.

Demonstrations: Greater London

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of policing of demonstrations and parades in London.

Damian Green: The policing of demonstrations and parades in London are an operational matter for the Metropolitan police and the City of London police.

Local Safeguarding Children Boards

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial contributions police services across England and Wales make to Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

Damian Green: Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) play a crucial role in multi agency child protection arrangements. Decisions by individual police forces to financially contribute to LSCBs are an operational matter and the Department does not hold this information.

Police: Information

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  who owns data on police information notices issued by police services in England and Wales;
	(2)  how many police information notices were issued in England and Wales, by constabulary area, in each of the last five years; and how many such notices have been revoked.

Damian Green: Data on police information notices issued by police services in England and Wales is not collected centrally and is owned by the individual police force that issued the notice.

Police: Information

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued by (a) her Department, (b) ACPO and (c) the College of Policing to ensure consistency of practice in the issuing of police information notices by police services.

Damian Green: Any decision to review or update police guidance on Police Information Notices is an operational matter for the College of Policing. The College of Policing will shortly be undertaking a full review and update of the guidance on investigating stalking to incorporate it into Authorised Professional Practice, which will include making sure that the guidance on the use of Police Information Notices is reviewed.

Prisoners: Crimes of Violence

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of shame/violence intervention for violent prisoners.

Jeremy Wright: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	An assessment was written in September 2007 by Jasmine Scott, Trainee Forensic Psychologist, et al. in the form of a paper entitled ‘An evaluation of the Shame Violence Intervention at HMP Wandsworth’. On receipt of this assessment, the Deputy Director of Custody for Greater London, Mr Nicholas Pascoe commissioned Ms Toni Mason, Lead Psychologist for Greater London, to consider this research. Following is a short summary of her comments.
	The research findings suggested that those Shame Violence Intervention (SVI) group members interviewed for the purposes of the research, reported positive effects of SVI which included fewer incidences of violence, increased problem solving, listening, communication, and perspective taking skills and the ability to vent frustrations and to practice skills in a ‘realistic’ setting. It was however also noted that the research highlighted a number of less positive issues associated with the intervention.
	These included: no structured programme manual or learning aims of each session being provided as part of the intervention; limited selection criteria for group members and no format to deal with diversity issues at selection; lack of clarity regarding the theory underpinning behaviour change; achievement being measured by attendance and not by behaviour change; no paper trail available that would satisfy audit processes; issues of security-there being no clear indication of how incidents/information would be reported to prison staff and concerns that some sessions became ‘heated’; the identification of a likely informal 'rule' in the group that no one should be violent on the wing to ensure that SVI continued and was seen to work, suggesting the possibility that this rule was potentially more powerful than skills learnt, (this could be argued to especially be true of a group likely to use violent behaviours instrumentally); and diversity issues not being addressed, with the observation by the researchers that ‘success’ or length of stay on the group often appeared to depend on how well group members ‘fitted in’.
	With reference to the research design itself, the positive effects of SVI reported above had not been substantiated rigorously or indeed sufficiently. Results were gained from self report, semi-structured interviews developed by the researchers for the purpose of this research, with no psychometric testing or other corroborative information (such as staff interviews, history sheets or adjudication records) being used in support of claims of the positive effects of SVI. In addition, no control group was used to assess the extent to which factors such as OBP attendance affected outcomes attributed to the positive effects reported. It was also of concern that despite SVI having been running for several years at the time of the report being written, the research cohort consisted of only 9 offenders and of those, only group members who had attended at least 5-10 sessions were included (this is despite the initial claim that ‘de-selection’ of group members was not an issue as any number of sessions of SVI would provide positive outcomes).
	Therefore, considering the significant issues with the SVI which are highlighted by the research, that the research concurred with a number of the findings of the PSO4350/Effective Regimes Interventions panel which chose not to support the original SVI application and that the existence of any positive effect(s) of SVI identified by the research cannot be substantiated due to the limitations of the research methodology, it was concluded that the ‘independent’ evidence provided did not provide sufficient cause to re-evaluate the decision made to cease SVI in Greater London prisons.

CAFCASS

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what advice he has received from the UK Statistics Authority on the required rate of return of Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service satisfaction surveys for younger children between the ages of five and eight before a reliable satisfaction figure may be arrived at;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to improve the rate of return of Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service satisfaction surveys by children between the ages of five and eight.

Simon Hughes: CAFCASS does not carry out satisfaction surveys with the children it works with. They have other child-friendly ways of gaining feedback from children, which does include a feedback form. They have different versions of the form for children and young people. One encourages young people to write out their feedback to CAFCASS in response to various questions, while the feedback form for younger children asks them to circle the feelings and emotions they have about CAFCASS. These are therefore qualitative rather than quantitative. This feedback is collected and acted on at a local level rather than a national one. Complaints are monitored at a national level but addressed at the local level.
	CAFCASS does not provide a return to the UK Statistics Authority; however they have published anonymised comments from feedback forms as part of their annual reports to draw out their direct work with children.
	CAFCASS commissioned the Family Justice Young People’s Board to review the means by which CAFCASS encourages feedback from the children and young people it works with. This review resulted in four recommendations which CAFCASS has taken forward including ‘feedback trees’ and changes to the feedback forms.

Courts: Telephone Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 396W, on courts, how many calls were made to higher rate telephone numbers for (a) magistrates' courts, (b) county courts and (c) the county court bulk centre in Northampton in each year since 2009; what the average duration was of calls to the higher-rate telephone numbers in each case in the most recent period for which figures are available; how much revenue was generated from such calls; which individual numbers are used for more than one court; and how many courts are covered by each of these numbers.

Shailesh Vara: Information on volumes and durations for calls to higher-rate telephone numbers for magistrates courts, county courts and the county court bulk centre in Northampton in each year since 2009 is not systematically collected by the service providers, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
	Between November 2013 to March 2014 the percentage of higher rate calls dropped significantly from 41% to 30% with the increasing use of 0300 numbers. This figure is set to drop even further as 19 higher rate numbers to the county court bulk centre are currently being replaced by 0300 numbers.
	During this period 137,763 calls to higher rate numbers were answered at the county court bulk centre with an average duration of four minutes 14 seconds. This figure represents 35% of all calls with the remainder being 0300 numbers.
	The Department has received no revenue from higher rate telephone numbers for the period under review.
	The following individual numbers are used for more than one court:
	0844 892 4000 is used by Basildon, Bury St Edmonds, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Kings Lyn, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend county courts, and by Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, Southend magistrates courts.
	0844 892 0550 is used by Bedford, Luton, Hertford, St Albans, Watford county courts.
	0845 300 4239 is used by Aylesbury, Banbury, Bicester, East Berkshire (Bracknell), East Berkshire (Maidenhead), East Berkshire (Slough), High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Oxford and South Oxfordshire, Reading, West Berkshire (Newbury) magistrates courts.
	0845 200 2078 is used by Chester, South Cheshire (Crewe), Liverpool and Knowsley, Macclesfield, Runcorn (Halton), Sefton, St Helens, Warrington, Wirral magistrates courts.
	0845 601 0485 is used by Harrogate, Northallerton, Shipton, York magistrates courts.
	0845 310 0575 is used by Cambridge, Peterborough magistrates courts.
	The following magistrates courts have higher-rate numbers which are not shared:
	Leamington Spa (0845 521 2300)
	Nottingham (0845 408 3500)
	Pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2014 (191689), 19 higher rate numbers to the County Court Bulk Centre in Northampton are in the process of being replaced by 0300 numbers. The higher-rate number for Central London Combined Court Centre has been discontinued. Taking into account these further reductions in higher-rate numbers, the percentage fall in higher-rate numbers since 2009 is 79% compared to the 55% previously stated.
	Magistrates courts and county courts use a total of 10 higher-rate numbers, sharing them for queries about fines, family matters, etc. 21 of the magistrates courts using higher rate numbers offer alternative 0300 numbers.
	As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department's approach is not to use higher rate numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone—see:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131120/text/131120w0001.htm#131120113000070
	and
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130322/text/130322w0001.htm#13032267000050

Dangerous Driving: Convictions

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of causing death by (a) careless and (b) dangerous driving in the last year for which figures are available; and what the average sentence was for each offence.

Jeremy Wright: Severe maximum penalties, of 14 years imprisonment, are available for those who cause death through dangerous driving or under the influence of drink or drugs and statistics show that the overwhelming majority of those convicted for these offences receive lengthy custodial sentences. The maximum penalty for causing death by careless driving is 5 years imprisonment and for causing death by disqualified, unlicensed or uninsured driving is two years imprisonment. We are keeping the law in this area under review. If any further changes are needed, we will bring forward proposals.
	The Secretary of State for Justice made an announcement on 6 May about our plans to strengthen the law in relation to disqualified drivers who cause death or serious injury; increasing the maximum sentence for causing death by disqualified driving to 10 years and introducing a new offence of causing serious injury by disqualified driving, with a maximum penalty of 4 years.
	The number of offenders found guilty and sentenced to an immediate custody at all courts and the average custodial sentence length (months) for 'careless' and 'dangerous' driving in England and Wales from 2008 to 2012 (latest available data) can be viewed in the table.
	Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
	
		
			 Offenders found guilty and sentenced to an immediate custody at all courts and the average custodial sentence length (months)1 for 'careless' and 'dangerous' driving, England and Wales, 2008-122, 3, 4 
			 Statute Offence Year Found guilty4 Immediate custody Average custodial sentence length (months) 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 as amended by Road Traffic Act 1991 and Criminal Justice Act 2003, s.1 Causing death by dangerous driving 2008 221 206 48.8 
			   2009 225 218 44.2 
			   2010 154 140 49.1 
			   2011 114 110 48.7 
			   2012 116 111 49.5 
			       
			       
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 added by Road Traffic Act 1991 and amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003, s.3a Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs 2008 46 45 46.6 
			   2009 35 33 51.9 
			   2010 41 40 45.5 
			   2011 35 35 52.3 
			   2012 23 21 52.1 
			       
			       
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 as amended by Road Safety Act 2006, s.2b Causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving 2008 4 - - 
			   2009 81 3 14.6 
			   2010 238 45 15.4 
			   2011 235 46 15.3 
			   2012 221 59 13.7 
			 “-” = Nil 1 Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. 2 The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will commission research on the effect of levels of functional illiteracy on electoral registration rates.

Greg Clark: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	Both the paper forms and the new online registration channel to be used under Individual Electoral Registration have been designed to meet a wide range of accessibility needs. The Government has no current plans to commission such research, but the Electoral Commission is currently aiming to publish its assessment of registration rates under individual electoral registration in July 2016.

Employment Tribunals Service

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for employment tribunal fee remission have been (a) received, (b) granted and (c) refused since 29 July 2013.

Shailesh Vara: It is in everyone's interest to avoid drawn out disputes which emotionally damage workers and financially damage businesses. That's why we are encouraging quicker, simpler and cheaper alternatives like mediation and conciliation.
	It is not fair for the taxpayer to foot the entire £74 million bill for people to escalate workplace disputes to a tribunal. And it is not unreasonable to expect people who can afford to do so, to make a contribution.
	Fee waivers (remissions) are available for those who genuinely cannot afford to pay the fees. These are permitted based on means tests and are intended to support the most vulnerable people in society.
	Employment tribunal fees were introduced on 29 July 2013. HM Court & Tribunals Service is currently developing the management information reporting tools to produce statistical data on remissions applications it processes.
	Provisional management information now generated (but which is currently undergoing additional necessary quality assurance testing) indicates that, for the period 29 July to 31 December 2013:
	a total of 2,500 paper applications were received from individuals, or groups of individuals, in respect of an employment tribunal fee levied; and
	of those, judged against the set criteria, 600 were granted, and 1,800 were rejected.
	This provisional data has been rounded to the nearest 100.

Family Courts

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to improve the openness and transparency of the proceedings and accountability of Family Court decisions.

Simon Hughes: The Government recognises the need for greater openness in the family justice system. The challenge is to open the system up to greater scrutiny while protecting those involved especially the welfare of children. Last year, the President of the Family Division issued practice guidance in relation to committal of individuals found in contempt of court to ensure that these proceedings should be held in open court. In January this year, the President issued guidance aimed at increasing the number of judgments in family proceedings which are published. We are grateful to the President for his work in this area.
	The guidance is available at the following link:
	http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Guidance/transparency-in-the-family-courts-jan2014.pdf

Fines

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to identify the amount of court costs (a) imposed and (b) collected from within the total imposition and collection of all court financial impositions.

Shailesh Vara: I understand that the office of the hon. Member asked for information about employment tribunal costs to be included in my answer to this question.
	Data on costs awards made by employment tribunals are published annually as Official Statistics. Data for the financial year 2012-13 (the latest data available) can be found as part of the statistical release for tribunals published in September 2013:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2013 (see in particular Table E.12).
	Parties awarded costs are responsible for initiating enforcement proceedings in the event of non-payment. Data on any enforcement proceedings initiated in respect of employment tribunal costs awards is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	In relation to civil courts, no central record exists of the total amount of costs awarded. Nor is there a central record of the level of satisfaction of costs awards made.

Prisoners

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were on (a) entry, (b) basic, (c) standard and (d) enhanced status in each prison on 1 May 2014.

Jeremy Wright: Figures for 2013-14 will be available after the publication of NOMS’ annual performance results and management information on 31 July 2014 on the Gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics
	The figures for 2014-15 will be available 12 months later.

Prisoners: Repatriation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners currently serving custodial sentences from EU member states are eligible for repatriation under the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement

Jeremy Wright: We estimate that 473 prisoners are eligible to be considered for transfer under the EUPTA as at 31 March 2014, and we are working with the Home Office to obtain the necessary deportation orders to enable transfer.
	This figure is calculated on the basis of the number of prisoners from EU member states who have implemented the EUPTA, meet the criteria to be automatically considered for deportation and have at least six months left to serve on their sentence (which is required by the EUPTA). We have not included Poland (315 prisoners) in these figures. Poland has implemented the EUPTA but has derogation from accepting compulsory transfers until December 2016. 10 member states have yet to implement the agreement but are expected to do so by December 2014.
	The Prisoner Transfer process is just one mechanism for removing Foreign National Offenders (FNOs). When transfers take a considerable time it can become more efficient to remove shorter-sentenced prisoners under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS). The number of FNOs deported under this mechanism has increased under this Government. In 2013, we removed nearly 2,000 FNOs under ERS and under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS), which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed over 240 FNOs to date.
	Whereas this Government has begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison since 2010, between 1997 and 2010, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons more than doubled.

Prisons: Drugs

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to tackle illicit trade in prescription tranquilisers in prisons.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) deploys a comprehensive range of measures to reduce the availability of drugs in prisons, including targeted searching, drug education, and other interventions. Prisoners are also subject to random and targeted mandatory drug tests, which include a test for the misuse of benzodiazepines. Prisoners found with prohibited items face swift and robust punishment. This can include having days added to their custody, being transferred to a different prison and losing privileges.
	NOMS is not complacent about the potential misuse of prescription medication in prisons and prison governors work closely with health care providers to ensure that relevant information is shared and that medication is safely and appropriately administered.
	The published National Partnership Agreement between NOMS, NHS England and Public Health England:
	www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/about/noms/work-with-partners/national-partnership-agreement-commissioning-delivery-healthcare-prisons2013.pdf
	has a commitment to review the level and choice of prescription medications within prisons and for the organisations to work together with professional bodies to promote changes in prescribing practice and tackle abuse of medications.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any approved bidders for community rehabilitation companies have (a) been convicted of a criminal offence relating to the conduct of business and (b) committed an act of grave misconduct, in the last five years; and what process would be followed should such offences occur.

Jeremy Wright: Final bids to run the community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) will be rigorously assessed against robust quality, legal, commercial and financial criteria. In the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), bidders were required to declare that they had no convictions in relation to criminal offences relating to the conduct of their business or profession and acts of grave misconduct. As set out in the invitation to negotiate, bidders are required to notify the Department of any changes to the position set out in their declarations or anything that may affect their continued participation in the competition. The Department reserves the right to undertake a full reassessment and, if grounds for rejection exist, exclude the bidder from further participation in the competition.
	MOJ has also undertaken extensive due diligence of bidders on a range of matters, including legal compliance issues. Consequently, we have a robust and diverse market and are confident that the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition—the PQQ—are credible organisations.

Probation: South West

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how long it took to merge the Avon and Somerset probation trusts.

Jeremy Wright: Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, which was established on 1 April 2010, replaced the Avon and Somerset Probation Board, which had been created on 1 April 2001 following the merger of the two separate probation committees for Avon and for Somerset.

Public Defenders

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the decision was made to embark on an expansion of the Public Defender System advocates.

Simon Hughes: The decision to expand the Public Defender Service was taken shortly before the advert for advocates was published on 20 January 2014.

RSPCA

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answers of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 638, on Freedom of Information Act, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to designate the RSPCA as a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hughes: The Government currently has no plans to extend the Freedom of Information Act to the RSPCA. However, we are considering ways in which the Act can be extended further to enhance transparency.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions officials in his Department have had with High Speed UK about alternatives to High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: We are not aware of any request from High Speed UK for a discussion with officials in the Department engaged on HS2, nor of any such discussions having taken place. We are, however, aware that High Speed UK have responded to consultations on issues related to HS2.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average speed of travel of a Pendolino train was on the west coast main line between (a) Euston and Birmingham, Curzon Street and (b) Euston and Handsacre in Staffordshire; and what the average speed of a train on the HS2 line is expected to be on each route.

Robert Goodwill: The average journey time of a Pendolino between Euston and Birmingham city centre (New Street) is 1 hour 21 minutes. As set out in the Strategic Case for HS2 (October 2013), the average journey time of an HS2 train between Euston and Birmingham city centre (Curzon Street) will be 49 minutes–a saving of 32 minutes.
	The maximum line speed for a Pendolino travelling on the west coast main line is 125mph. HS2 is designed for a top speed of 250mph. Plans envisage services running at up to 225mph, which is becoming the standard capability for new high speed trains.
	There is no station for Handsacre on either the existing network or the HS2 network. The nearest relevant station is Crewe, for which comparative journey times are 1 hour 30 minutes for current services and 55 minutes by HS2 services–a saving of 35 minutes.

Highways Agency

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what civil service restrictions will be removed should the Highways Agency be moved to a GoCO.

Robert Goodwill: The Government intends to turn the Highways Agency (HA) into a government-owned Strategic Highways Company (SHC), as confirmed in the response to consultation published on 30th April. As announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in June 2013, the new company will operate with guaranteed multi-year funding settlements and have the flexibility to move funds between years.
	As a company, outside of the civil service but inside the public sector, the SHC will have more autonomy over its internal governance arrangements and delivery processes so that it can respond to business needs more effectively.
	The Government is continuing to work through the details of its relationship with the SHC to provide the necessary commercial freedom to boost delivery and improve efficiency, whilst ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.
	The rights of existing HA staff will be protected in accordance with TUPE principles.

Large Goods Vehicles: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the goods vehicle levy in Northern Ireland.

Robert Goodwill: The levy is supported by a majority of hauliers in Northern Ireland, all of whom pay it alongside their vehicle excise duty. Hauliers from Ireland must also pay before they use roads in Northern Ireland. A typical large HGV from Ireland visiting Northern Ireland twice a day, as would be the case for a round trip, would effectively pay only £1.28 per visit if they had purchased an annual levy. Smaller vehicles pay less, and those under 12 tonnes pay nothing. These represent small amounts compared to the running cost of a UK HGV of £80,000 to £100,000 per year, and much less than the tolls a typical Northern Ireland HGV would face doing a round trip to Dublin at around £8. Parliament has already debated the exempting of some border roads in Northern Ireland, totalling around 7 miles. These exemptions are a practical measure meaning that vehicles entering Northern Ireland for a short distance do not have to pay the levy, and exempting them simplifies enforcement.

Railway Stations: Access

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria he used to select which stations would receive funding under the Access for All scheme from 2015 to 2019.

Stephen Hammond: The rail industry were asked to nominate stations for Access for All at the end of 2013 and 278 stations were put forward. These were assessed using the same criteria that have been used since the programme was launched in 2006.
	Stations were selected based on their annual footfall figures (using data from the Office of Rail Regulation), weighted by the incidence of disability in the area (using census data). We also took into account the preferences of the train operating companies, local factors such as proximity to a hospital and the availability of any third party funding. A number of stations were also selected to ensure a fair geographical spread across the country. Stations that already had step free routes, or which were due to be upgraded as part of other programmes, were not considered for funding.

River Thames: Bridges

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what written correspondence he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how they impact on the options for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing;
	(2)  what written correspondence he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding the tolling of proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how that will impact on traffic levels at the Dartford Crossing;
	(3)  what meetings he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how they impact on the options for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing;
	(4)  what meetings he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding the tolling of proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how that will impact on traffic levels at the Dartford Crossing.

Stephen Hammond: The Secretary of State for Transport has regular meetings with the Mayor of London at which a range of London transport measures are discussed. Other Ministers also discuss various London transport issues and projects with senior officials from Transport for London.
	The Mayor of London wrote to the then Secretary of State for Transport on 1 June 2012 to request the designation of the proposed Silvertown tunnel as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Secretary of State responded on 26 June 2012 outlining her agreement to grant the request.
	On 16 July 2013, the Mayor of London wrote to me to respond to the Department’s consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing proposals.
	The Department’s review of options for a new Lower Thames Crossing included a sensitivity test to assess whether the proposed Silvertown Crossing scheme would be likely to impact on the forecast flows for the existing Dartford crossing, and any potential new crossing. The conclusion of that test was that the effect was likely to be negligible. The review findings were published in May 2013 as part of consultation on the options.

Roads: Lighting

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken on the relationship between levels of street lighting and (a) road traffic accidents and (b) injuries to pedestrians.

Robert Goodwill: The Highways Agency is responsible for lighting on the strategic road network and local authorities for street lighting in their areas. It is for the authorities themselves to decide the level of service they wish their street lighting network to deliver.
	No recent research has been undertaken by the Department for Transport on the relationship between levels of street lighting and (a) road traffic accidents and (b) injuries to pedestrians. The Department does, however, collect accident data and this will include factors including whether or not the area was in darkness or lit.
	In 2006 investigations were carried out by the Highways Agency which concluded road lighting reduced the number of night-time personal accident injuries on the strategic road network by 10% on motorways and dual carriageways, and 12% on single carriageway roads. The Highways Agency has not conducted any specific research on the impact of road lighting on accidents involving pedestrians due to their low numbers on the strategic road network.
	Where the Highways Agency has undertaken the switching off of lights at midnight at certain site locations, these were subject to a detailed safety assessment. By selecting sites with a good safety record and where night-time traffic flows are low, the Highways Agency is confident there will be no adverse impact on road safety.
	This Government is providing over £4.5 billion from 2010 to 2015 to local highway authorities in England for highways maintenance, including street lighting. If a local highway authority is considering upgrading or improving their street lighting stock, the Department for Transport encourages them to consider the “Invest to Save” Guidance produced by the Association of Directors of Environment, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) which is available from the Institution of Lighting Professionals.

Roads: Yorkshire and the Humber

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Highways Agency in maintaining roads in (a) Huddersfield, (b) Kirklees and (c) Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Goodwill: The Highways Agency Business Plan sets out the strategic objectives and the in-year targets to be achieved. It includes a target covering road surface condition. Each Highways Agency region contributes to those targets, including Yorkshire and the North East. The agency's performance against the targets for the financial year 2013-14 is due to be published in its annual report by summer 2014.
	The agency is unable to identify separately the contribution to business plan targets by individual constituency or local authority area.

Roads: Yorkshire and the Humber

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much central Government has spent on road infrastructure in (a) Huddersfield, (b) Kirklees and (c) Yorkshire in each of the last three years.

Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport is responsible for the strategic road network which is managed by the Highways Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin). The remaining roads are the responsibility of local highway authorities under the Highways Act 1980.
	Highways Agency spending on improving road infrastructure (including smaller schemes and technology improvements) on the strategic road network in the Yorkshire and Humber area in the last three financial years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Funding for Yorkshire and Humber area (£ million) 
			 2011-12 72.413 
			 2012-13 66.658 
			 2013-14 81.982 
		
	
	The Department for Transport also provides funding to local highway authorities through integrated transport and highways maintenance block grants. This funding can be used to improve local roads that they manage, if they so wish. The following table provides this information.
	
		
			 Highways maintenance block 
			 £ million 
			  Kirklees West Yorkshire Yorkshire and Humberside 
			 March 2011 pothole 1.304 15.776 20.900 
			 2011-12 block 0 27.173 87.562 
			 2012-13 block 0 26.185 84.412 
			 2013-14 block 0 25.511 80.158 
			 2013-14 additional block 1.019 14.620 13.581 
			 2013-14 flood recovery 0.606 12.999 10.356 
			 2014-15 block 0 23.766 75.488 
			 2014-15 additional block 0.548 12.446 7.268 
		
	
	
		
			 1 Made up of the individual payments to Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. 
		
	
	
		
			 Integrated transport block 
			 £ million 
			  Kirklees West Yorkshire Yorkshire and Humberside 
			 2011-12 block 0 121.128 147.760 
			 2012-13 block 0 19.318 43.666 
			 2013-14 block 0 19.318 43.666 
			 2014-15 block 0 27.165 61.403 
			 1 Includes top up announced in 2011 autumn statement. 
		
	
	In addition, the Department also provide capital funding for local major schemes, costing over £5 million. The figures for spend on local major road infrastructure in the last three years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Area 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 Huddersfield 0 0 0 
			 Kirklees 0 0 0 
			 Yorkshire 7.2 25.6 26.8 
		
	
	Revenue funding for highway maintenance is provided through the Communities and Local Government revenue support grant (RSG). RSG is an un-hypothecated grant provided to local authorities to enable them to carry out their functions, and local authorities can choose to spend this on any services for which they have responsibility, as per local spending priorities.